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Find out how six recent grads launched their brilliant careers
Meet the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award winners Barry students get a glimpse beyond the ‘Great Wall’
FALL 2010 | VOLUME 16 | NUMBER 2 BA RRY
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Publisher Mike Laderman Editor Paige Stein News Editor Jeremy Jones Art Director Diana Striker Writers Gladys Amador Rebecca Dellagloria Jeremy Jones Whitney Sessa Paige Stein Rebecca Wakefield Richard Webster Photography & Illustration Andrew Baker Kelsa Bartley Khue Bui Chris Casler Jessica Dudney Kevin Garrett David Jeannot Julia Lethbridge Rose Lincoln George Martinez Teresa Rafidi Lad Strayer Donna Victor Michelle Webster Printer Bellak Color Graphics, Inc. Editorial Board Sarah Baldwin-Beneich Dr. Andrea Greenbaum Dee Grohowski Jasmine Kripalani Connie Hicks McMahon Thomas Rockwell Sandy Southmayd Barry Magazine is published biannually for all current students and their parents, alumni, trustees, employees and other friends of Barry University. Communications may be addressed to: Barry Magazine Office of Communications and Marketing 11300 N.E. Second Ave. Miami Shores, FL 33161-6695 305.899.3188 pstein@mail.barry.edu Unsolicited manuscripts and art must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Copyright@2010 Barry University www.barry.edu
from the editor Everyone remembers looking for their first job out of college – buying a real suit; asking everyone (maybe even the salesperson who sold you that suit) to read over your résumé; maybe even practicing your answers to interview questions in the mirror. The time it took you to land your first job out of school may have been longer or shorter than you expected, dependent upon personal circumstances and the economic climate you graduated into. So, what about today’s young graduates? There’s no doubt that they face a steep uphill climb. Employers are still reluctant to hire and, in many cases, job seekers with years of experience are having difficulty finding work. Yet, despite today’s uniquely “challenging” job market (an understatement, we know), we keep hearing stories of young Barry grads who have beaten the odds, so to speak, and managed to find good, even great, jobs. So, after asking members of the Barry community to send us these stories directly, we have chosen six young alumni to profile. We wanted to find out more about them and how they approached the start of their professional lives. Although we weren’t really surprised by their passion, determination, flexibility and punctuality, we were impressed. We think you will be too. In this issue, we also feature our 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients, each of whom is a great role model for our young alumni. Honored for their professional achievements, contributions to the community and support of the University, each of this year’s winners has a long and impressive “résumé” of professional and personal accomplishments. However, while working on this story we realized that we were equally as impressed by their patience, wisdom, humor and punctuality. We hope you enjoy finding out a little bit more about them and what makes them so successful; we certainly did. Paige Stein, editor
Cover photo by Donna Victor 2
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Table of C O N T E N T S
spotlights features [15] A Matter of Science
Summer program gives economically disadvantaged high school students a taste of real world science in a college setting.
[36] Chutes and Corporate Ladders
Check out our game board full of job-hunting tips for recent grads.
[38] Hot Diggity Dog
Barry’s Entrepreneurial Institute steps up to help a blind Miami resident open her own business.
[40] Get a LIFE
Two professors empower Haitian-American youth by introducing them to their rich cultural heritage.
[45] All Hands on Deck
Kathy Schroeder ’08 is going ‘way’ out of her way to make science come alive for her students.
[18] Very Distinguished
Meet the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award winners. Among them are sailors, pilots, adventure travelers, human rights advocates and cancer survivors.
[25] Far and Away
Barry students get a glimpse behind the ‘Great Wall.’
[30] Young, Smart and Fabulously Employed
Find out how six young Barry grads launched their brilliant careers.
departments [ 4] Headliners [16] Sports Beat [42] Arts & Culture [48] Alumni News & Events [50] Class Notes
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Patti O’Brien Brenner, coordinator of alumni relations, is pictured with students in Lehman Hall.
Job well done
Barry University was recently named one of the 2010 “Best Nonprofit Organizations to Work For” by The Nonprofit Times, proving that the University is the ideal place for both students and employees. The publication asked thousands of employees at nonprofits across the country to nominate their place of business as the best place to work. The request began a “several month-long odyssey,” according to Paul Clolery, editorin-chief of The Nonprofit Times. Barry made the Top 50 list and ranked No. 7 in the “larger than 250 employees” category. “I am thrilled that Barry is one of the top 50 nonprofit places to work,” said Barry University President Sister Linda Bevilacqua, OP, PhD. “This distinctive honor acknowledges the competent and collaborative efforts of our dedicated faculty and staff to create a welcoming and supportive environment
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for all members of our university community, especially our students.” Working with the Best Companies Group, the newspaper sought out the top-notch nonprofits by way of survey. After applying, the organizations went through several levels of screening conducted by employees of the group.
of the best nonprofits to work for, and what can be improved upon within the organization – were also asked of workers. Approximately 75 percent of an organization’s score was compiled from employee input and the remaining 25 percent came from the information the nonprofits provided about their organizations.
“We are very excited Barry made this list and more importantly our high ranking was due in large part to the input of our faculty and staff. It is a great honor.” Consisting of 70 statements, the survey allowed employees to rate their responses on a one to five scale, one being “disagree strongly” and five being “agree strongly.” Two open-ended questions – why the company is one
“As part of the University’s strategic agenda, Human Resources had been working toward being recognized as an employer of choice; this recognition puts us one step closer to achieving that goal,” said Human Re-
sources Associate Vice President, Jennifer Boyd-Pugh. “We are very excited Barry made this list and more importantly our high ranking was due in large part to the input of our faculty and staff. It is a great honor.” Statements such as “the leaders of this organization care about their employees’ well-being” or “I am able to maintain a reasonable balance between my work and personal life” were some of the questions posed. Responses from both sets of information were combined to create a detailed data set, from which analysts determined the strengths and opportunities each nonprofit provides for its employees. According to The Nonprofit Times, on average, 86 percent of the answers the top 50 organizations provided were considered positive (or rated four and five on the scale), meaning they “agree somewhat and agree strongly.”
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Access Granted • In an effort to help close the gap in the nation’s nursing shortage, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded Barry’s Division of Nursing $869,745 for nursing students. The grant required a match of $154,000 from the University, making it among the largest federally funded nursing grants given to the program.
Known as the Nurse Faculty Loan Program, it allows nurses accepted into the program to earn their master’s or doctoral degrees in nursing education and receive an 85 percent forgiveness policy on their education loan. Nursing students must teach as a full-time faculty member at any college or university, including Barry, for a minimum of five years after graduation in order to receive the loan forgiveness.
“Barry University’s Division of Nursing has been, is, and will continue to be dedicated to producing nursing faculty for the state of Florida,” said College of Health Sciences Associate Dean and Division of Nursing Chair Claudette Spalding, PhD, ARNP. “This loan program has and will continue to make the difference in recruitment and production of nurses who will become the faculty needed by all of Florida’s nursing programs.”
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headliners • Barry University’s Yucatan Crippled Children’s Project recently received a gift of $24,575 in grant support from three separate foundations. Two $10,000 donations came from the Frank J. Lewis Foundation of Riveira Beach, Florida, and the International Foundation of Fairfield, New Jersey. The Northwest Podiatric Foundation donated $4,575. The Yucatan Project, now in its 14th year of operation, has rendered treatment to more than 6,700 crippled children in Mexico. All operations are performed by podiatric physicians and surgeons from Barry’s School of Podiatric Medicine. Funds from the three foundations will be used to support travel costs and provide medical supplies, equipment and medication.
• The Institute for Hispanic/ Latino Theology and Ministry received a $700,000 challenge grant from The Marie V. Gendron Fund. Administered by the Adrian Dominican Sisters in Adrian, Michigan, the Gendron grant will be used for the Institute’s scholarship endowment. For every dollar the Institute raises over the next two years, the Gendron Fund will match up to $700,000, bringing the potential monies raised to $1.4 million. The challenge grant will help the Institute in its campaign to raise $2.7 million for its scholarship endowment.
Established in 2006, the Institute for Hispanic/Latino Theology and Ministry is structured to empower Roman Catholic and Protestant lay and ordained ministers with a solid background in Hispanic/ Latino practical theologies. The Institute offers a certificate program as well as concentrations in Hispanic/Latino theology within the master’s in Practical Theology and doctorate in Ministry programs.
The above photo was taken during the Yucatan Project’s February 2008 trip.
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headliners • The Counseling Department in the Adrian Dominican School of Education (ADSOE) was awarded $61,176 from the Florida Department of Education for its College Reach-Out Program (CROP). The grant period began September 1 and ends August 31, 2011. CROP is a statewide program that helps educationally disadvantaged, low-income students in grades 6-12 pursue and successfully complete a college education by providing tutorial services. Barry’s program is the only one of its kind to provide counseling services to CROP students and their families. The program counsels students on the issues affecting their decision not to attend college, such as violence, domestic violence, substance abuse and family medical problems. Barry counselors, at no charge, conduct individual and
group psycho-educational counseling sessions in the schools, which provide students with the skills necessary to achieve academic success. • The U.S. Department of Defense awarded the College of Health Sciences a $1.2 million congressionally-directed grant, one of the largest ever given to the University. Money from the grant is being used to fund a two-year project titled “Surveillance of water sources for pathogen contamination: an approach to provide informative maps for military deployment and humanitarian assistance planning.” The project, under the guidance of Barry faculty members Drs. Gerhild Packert and Evelio Velis (co-principle investigators), and Stephen Dunham (project coordinator), will be conducted in conjunction with
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Its purpose is to address U.S. military and humanitarian needs by quickly testing water for safe use during emergency conditions. Barry researchers will be testing how accurate hand held water test kits are in identifying bacteria and parasites in fresh water. Results of these tests will be verified with advanced laboratory instrumentation. Additionally, the grant provides an opportunity for Barry undergraduate students to participate in field sampling and laboratory testing. Students will receive training on advanced laboratory equipment and learn techniques that will prepare them for potential careers in research, hospitals and commercial laboratories. • The Department of Physical Sciences is the recipient of a
Cottrell College Science Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA), an active, hands-on foundation that promotes advances in science. The grant, which is for $35,000 over two years, will help fund Dr. Tamara D. Hamilton’s research program, which involves the synthesis of porphyrins, also known as organic compounds that occur in nature. Heme, the pigment in red blood cells, is one the most widely known porphyrins. Hamilton’s research involves using porphyrins to build molecular-sized cube-shaped cages that could later be used for applications like drug delivery and catalysis. Funds from the grant will also be used to purchase supplies and equipment, and provide two Barry undergraduate students with a summer salary for two years to do research.
Accolades • Dr. Mitchell Rosenwald, associate professor in the School of Social Work, has co-written a textbook with Beth N. Riley, cofounder of BCFOCUS, a multiagency collaboration working with foster and adoptive families. The textbook is titled “Advocating for Children in Foster and Kinship Care.” Rosenwald and Riley published the textbook to provide strategies for effective advocacy and placement within the foster care and kinship systems. It offers insight into three major topics: steps that potential foster and kinship caregivers must take with the assistance of
practitioners to prepare themselves for placement; tactics for successful advocacy within the court system, social service agencies, schools, and the medical and mental health establishments; and lobbying for change at the agency and legislative levels, as well as within a given community. Rosenwald, a longtime advocate for children and families, has nearly a decade of experience working in and researching the field of foster and kinship care. “Advocating for Children in Foster and Kinship Care” is available online at www.cup. columbia.edu.
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Accolades • Dr. Laura Finley has been elected to the Board of Directors of Amnesty International USA. She joined the board in the summer of 2010 for a three-year term. Finley is an assistant professor of sociology and criminology and has authored or co-authored eight books, numerous journal articles and book chapters. She also serves on the board of directors of No More Tears, a nonprofit that assists victims of domestic violence; UNIFEM East Florida Chapter; and is the liaison to K-12 educators for the Peace and Justice Studies Association.
• Dr. Darlene Kluka, interim dean of the School of Human Performance and Leisure Science and professor of sport management, was awarded the highest honor given in her profession: induction into the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) Hall of Fame in Indianapolis, Indiana. Kluka was one of three individuals selected for the honor. The award recognizes out-
standing individuals in the fields of sport education, professional sports, and physical education and physical activity. Recipients are chosen based on their significant contributions to maintaining sport and physical activity as an integral part of the total education program. Kluka serves as chair of the Consultants Committee of the International Association of Physical Education and Sport
for Girls and Women (IAPESGW), is a member of the International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport, and is a founding member of USA Volleyball Sports Medicine and Performance Commission. She is a former vice president of USA Volleyball and served on its board of directors for eight years. She also served as a member of the United States Olympic Committee for a quadrennium.
• The U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development has selected Dr. Thomas Ayers as a National Higher Education Sustainability Fellow. Ayers is executive associate dean for the School of Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) and assistant professor of Organizational Leadership. The U.S. Partnership consists of individuals, organizations and institutions in the United States dedicated to education for sustainable development (ESD). It acts as a convener, catalyst, and communicator working across all sectors of American society. Ayers spent his summer carrying out post doctoral fellowship work in Campus Sustainability and Environmental Management at Harvard University and the University of Vermont. As a fellow, Ayers will play an important role in the national trend toward sustainability in higher education by working with continuing education professional associations and other related higher education associations to support their sustainability efforts. • Anthony “Tony” Umadhay, PhD, MSN, CRNA, won the 2010 Judith Balcerski Award for Excellence in Research for his work titled “African American Women with HIV/AIDS: A Phenomenological Inquiry.” The Sigma Theta Tau, Lambda Chi Chapter in the Division of Nursing recognized Umadhay as an outstanding novice nurse researcher whose research contributes to the mission of Sigma Theta Tau. Several criteria were used to choose the award recipient, such as someone who demonstrates excellence in research and shows evidence of dissemination of research findings.
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Welcome Aboard
• Dr. Jeffrey Jensen has been named dean of the School of Podiatric Medicine and Physician Assistant program. Jensen, who takes over for interim dean Dr. John ( Jack) Nelson, began his new role August 23. Formerly in private practice in Denver, Colorado, Jensen has been the owner and clinical director of the Diabetic Foot and Wound Center since 1994. He earned his doctorate of podiatric medicine from the California College of Podiatric Medicine and completed his surgical residency training at Kern Hospital in Warren, Michigan. For the past decade, Jensen has served as externship and research director at North Colorado Podiatric Surgical Residency. He has also been an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center since 1995. An active researcher, Jensen has been the principle investigator on more than 30 multi-center clinical trials for wound carerelated drugs and medical devices. He is also the founder of MedEfficiency, Inc., a medical device company that has generated $2.8 million in research funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He holds four patents for devices to assist in off-loading fractures and treat diabetic foot wounds. “As a practitioner for 17 years,
I understand the opportunities and challenges our students will face in delivering high-quality medical care,” Jensen said. “As dean, I look forward to bringing these real world experiences to the students. The thought of working with them in their formative years is very appealing. I also look forward to collaborating with Barry’s many reputable programs such as nursing, biomechanics and exercise physiology to foster research opportunities.” • Londa Adkins joins Barry University’s School of Law’s Juvenile Justice Center as staff attorney. Adkins, a longtime child advocate, is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and received her JD from the University of Dayton College of Law. Prior to joining the Law School, Adkins worked for the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy’s Juvenile Post Disposition Branch, which represents children in that state’s residential treatment facilities and detention centers. In 2007, she became the Frankfort Trial Office juvenile specialist representing children in five counties. • The Monsignor William Barry Memorial Library welcomes Tom Messner as its new library director. Messner began his duties as director August 9. He earned his master’s in Library and Information Science from The University of Oklahoma and has more than 17 years of experience working in both public and private academic libraries. In his last position, Messner served for nine years as library director and instructor of library services at Northeastern State University, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where he was responsible for overseeing all campus library budgeting, planning, library services and collection development.
Stelnicki
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• The Barry University Board of Trustees welcomes its two newest members: Dr. James V. Stelnicki and John G. Primeau. Stelnicki is a podiatric physician in New Port Richey, Florida, and past president and member of the Executive Board of the Florida Podiatric Medical Association (FPMA). Stelnicki, who has been closely involved with Barry for more than 20 years, is a Florida State Boxing Commissioner presently serving as the vice chairman, and has been a member of the State Board of Florida Medical Examiners and the Department of Professional Regulation. He received a doctorate of podiatric medicine from the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine and is board certified in podiatric surgery and primary podiatric care by the American Podiatric Medical Specialties Board. A member of the Podiatric Medical Advisory Council, he established the James V. Stelnicki Scholarship for Excellence in Lower Extremity Vascular Medicine with a $100,000 gift to the University. The scholarship awards one $10,000 scholarship each year to a deserving senior podiatric medical student. The donation, made in 2008, inducted Dr. Stelnicki to the Barry University Society of Founders, which recognizes and honors individuals who have contributed $50,000 or more
toward the mission and goals of the University. Primeau, who serves as president and CEO of Valley Bank, has been involved with the South Florida financial industry for more than 40 years. He earned his Master of Business Administration from Barry’s Andreas School of Business in 1987 and is past chair of Barry’s Board of the Alumni Association. He served as executive vicepresident for the Commercial Lending Division of Hollywood Federal Savings and Loan, and later was president and CEO of Unifirst Bank in Hollywood, where he successfully directed the merger with Republic Security Bank in 1998. Before joining Valley Bank, he was senior vice president and market executive for First United Bank in Broward County. Primeau has served as a board member of the American Red Cross, the Barry University Advisory Council, the City of Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the American Diabetes Association. He also served on the board of the South Florida Hospital District for eight years, two of which as its chairman. He currently serves on the board of trustees of Women in Distress and the Broward United Way Campaign Cabinet, and is an active member of the State of Florida Consumer Affairs Committee.
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Road Trip In April, three Barry students presented their research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Missoula, Montana. Alton Johnson, Shakima St. Clair and Blandine Victor presented posters on reproductive endocrinology and cancer biology (research completed by Johnson and St. Clair), and neuroscience (research completed by Blandine). The students were mentored and accompanied by Dr. Flona Redway, biology instructor, who also made an oral presentation on enriching the undergraduate biomedical science research curriculum.
When in Rome
Dr. Alan Mason, associate professor of music, has the extraordinary honor of being invited to perform at the Vatican for a special concert on November 16. Mason is one of only two accompanists who will play at the concert of Jewish music, which also features 20 cantors from North America. Mason and the cantors will perform before Pope Benedict XVI and other Vatican leaders. “This is a rare opportunity for
the finest of sacred Jewish music to be heard by an audience who might never have this chance in their lifetimes. Jewish prayer is sung, shared through melody, and there is no better vehicle than music to bring people of diverse cultures together.” The concert, which is part of the American Conference of Cantors, will be filmed and included as part of a documentary titled “Across the Holy Lands.” It is being held at the Basilica
di Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri. The conference itself focuses on Catholic-Jewish relations. A gifted musician, Mason has been teaching piano, music history and accompanying the choir at Barry since 1996. His performance at the Vatican is only the latest invitation he has received to perform before a world leader. In 2007, Mason was invited to perform at the White House for President George W. Bush.
Dr. Alan Mason addresses students in his ‘Listening to Music’ class.
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Catalina Franco-Cicero, wellness coordinator, gets students from Hubert O. Sibley Elementary moving as part of Barry’s Fun, Fit Fridays program.
More than Child’s Play
This past spring, 23 fourthand fifth-graders from Hubert O. Sibley Elementary School in North Miami took part in Fun, Fit Fridays, a new program at Barry that uses physical fitness and athletics as way to transform communities. The children who participated in the eight-week program were primarily of Haitian ancestry and came from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. Every Friday, these students walked from their school to the Barry campus to learn life skills through sports, fitness and academics. Barry Wellness Coordinator Catalina Franco-Cicero, who is working towards her PhD, got the idea for the program after taking two graduate courses: International Sport and Community Development with Dr. Darlene Kluka and Sociology of Education with Dr. Priva Fis-
chweicher. As part of her course work, Franco-Cicero developed the model for a program that became Fun, Fit Fridays. During the program, which also emphasizes the empowerment and equality of women, the children worked on homework assignments and interacted with Barry student athletes. Combing these components with the idea of a healthy lifestyle is vital for children, Franco-Cicero noted, adding that there is a great need to reduce the number of children affected by Type 2 diabetes. “By educating young students through exercise and fitness programs, we can help solve (health and childhood obesityrelated) problems all over the world,” she said. The idea of Fun, Fit Fridays is already going global. A visiting professor, Dr. Anneliese Goslin of the University of Pretoria in South Africa, sat in on Kluka’s
class and was so impressed with the concept that the University of Pretoria implemented the program with youth in their area. Franco-Cicero and Kluka had the chance to visit the University of Pretoria last summer to assess the South African Fun, Fit Fridays program and hand deliver pen pal letters from the children in the Barry program. While in South Africa, Franco-Cicero and Kluka also met with some colleagues from the University of Beira Interior in Portugal. As a result, the duo are tentatively scheduled to go to Portugal to help get their Fun, Fit Fridays program off the ground. According to Kluka, this program is one of the few times in her career she has seen something from the classroom make it to the real world. “There isn’t anything better, in my humble opinion,” she said.
“By educating young students through exercise and fitness programs, we can help solve (health and childhood obesity-related) problems all over the world.”
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Focused on the Future Leaders in Dominican higher education gather on Barry’s campus for 11th Biennial Colloquium
Barry President Sister Linda Bevilacqua, OP, PhD, welcomes participants to the 11th Biennial Colloquium of U.S. Dominican Colleges and Universities held June 17-20 on Barry’s Miami Shores campus.
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By Rebecca Dellagloria Five hundred years ago, a group of Dominican friars came to the Americas, bringing with them their devotion to the principles of equality and fairness. And in June, their spiritual descendants came together at Barry University to share their experiences and discuss the path of Dominican higher education going forward. The 11th Biennial Colloquium of U.S. Dominican Colleges and Universities, held June 17-20, drew attendees from 17 Dominican colleges and universities from around the country to gather in the spirit of friendship and collaboration. The conference covered a broad spectrum of Dominican philosophy and how to put it into action, with workshops on subjects as diverse as social justice, building opportunities at member schools and whether future generations of the order will remember “the fire of our preaching” 500 years from now. “The Colloquium was very successful, I believe, in terms of the energy and enthusiasm that emanated from the participants as well as the conversations that took place among the folks from the various Dominican colleges and universities, and also in terms of the spirit of oneness that seemed to grow as the conference went on,’’ said Barry
President Sister Linda Bevilacqua, OP, PhD. “I think people got a sense of the strength and inherent power that resides in the U.S. Dominican colleges and universities.” During an early morning session on the opening day, keynote speaker Sister Margaret Ormond, OP, priorist of the Dominican Sisters of Peace in Columbus, Ohio, discussed how educators can bring the lessons of the past to the current conversation. Citing the example set by (Antonio de) Montesinos, the Dominican friar, who in the 1500s, became the first member of the clergy to speak out about the innate rights of the indigenous people of the Americas, she emphasized the responsibility that all Dominicans have to rise up against injustice in their communities. “I would like to suggest that these 16th century Dominicans have a lot to say to us Dominican educators, today more than ever,’’ Ormond said. “As members of this Colloquium and universities, we are charged to preach the gospel and do justice.” For Dr. Mary Crosby ’64, MS ’66 now a professor at Dominican University of California, attending the Colloquium was coming full circle. Her thesis, “Putting the Fanjeaux Experience into Practice,” was one of the highlights of the conference. Crosby, director of the Multiple Subject Program at
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Dominican’s School of Education, spoke of her experience in the French town, known as the birthplace of the Dominican order. Every summer, Dominicans from universities across the country travel to Fanjeaux for study, reflection, and exploration of how their schools can draw upon and apply Dominican ideals, including study, contemplation and community. “We connect with people from the other 13 or so universities in the U.S.,” said Crosby, who had the chance to travel to Fanjeaux several years ago. “We attended seminars in the mornings; we took field trips in the afternoon, learning about the place where Saint Dominic established his first order of sisters.” Crosby, who attended undergraduate and graduate school at Barry University on a full scholarship, said returning to the Miami Shores campus for the Colloquium was like a welcome homecoming. She found the experience enlightening. “The focus of the Colloquium was of a historical nature. I thought it was interesting to learn some more of the history that I was not so familiar with. … And there was a big emphasis on that – the Dominicans leaving and going to the [Caribbean] islands,’’ she said. “I just thought it was fascinating. I spent my time studying St. Dominic in the 1200s. This was a few hundred
From left to right: Sister Diane Capuano, OP, of Malloy College, joins Barry’s Rev. Jorge Presmanes, OP, Briana Butler, and Sister Sara Fairbanks, OP, for some salsa lessons during the Colloquium’s Floribbean Fiesta on June 17. Floribbean cuisine mixes culinary influences from Caribbean islands, such as Haiti and Jamaica, with those from all over the world, including the American Deep South. years after that.” Ormond said she hoped the Colloquium would inspire Dominican educators to take a look at how they teach and ask themselves such fundamental questions as, “How can we contribute our time and travel and treasure to those who don’t have access to education?” She saw the Colloquium, with its eye to the past, as the perfect platform to pose such questions to a rapt and attentive crowd. “I want to engage the past so that we can transform the future,’’ Ormond said. “Education is the best way to effect transformational change in our world. The more we can collaborate in our globalized world, the better we’ll be able to do that.” To that end, Sister Linda said, the conference served as a jumping-off point for educators from different colleges and universities to come together to brainstorm on how to bring the spirit of collaboration to fruition once the Colloquium concluded. One idea that Barry may initiate
is offering a joint alternative spring break program with several other colleges and universities instead of individual institutions offering their own programs. Sister Linda said the benefits are twofold: giving students a chance to interact with other students from around the country and providing a sense of strength through their numbers. “The take-home message [of the Colloquium] is the growing realization of the inherent potential that we have as a collective, as a group of U.S. Dominican colleges and universities to make an impact, to make a collective
impact,’’ she said. Going forward, Crosby noted, there will continue to be strength in the Dominican experience, so long “as there continue to be Dominicans at these universities.” “It is definitely evident that [Dominican leaders] want this collaboration to continue. And they’ve been talking about having the Colloquium continue in this format,’’ Crosby said. “And I surely hope that it will.’’ Rebecca Dellagloria is a Miamibased writer and community news reporter for Forum Publishing Group.
“The Colloquium was very successful, I believe, in terms of the energy and enthusiasm that emanated from the participants as well as the conversations that took place among the folks from the various Dominican colleges and universities, and also in terms of the spirit of oneness that seemed to grow as the conference went on.’’ BA RRY
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Well deserved Andreas School of Business professor wins Ourstanding Educator of the Year Award
By Gladys Amador gamador@mail.barry.edu
For 40 years, Dr. Bruce C. Payne has educated countless students as a professor of finance. This year, the nonprofit Federation of Business Disciplines honored him with the 2010 Outstanding Educator Award at its national conference in March. The organization boasts national and international constituencies of more than 1,000 business school professors. The award recognizes educators who have been identified as truly outstanding in their teaching and other efforts that contribute to student learning. “He was most deserving of this recognition,” said Dr. Michael Tyler, accounting professor in the Andreas School of Business. “Dr. Payne is an amazing professor and colleague. He is
and the players would have been in their early 60s by now. I have thought of that day every year as we approached the Thanksgiving holiday, and I do not think I am alone.” A member of the Society of Economists (SSE) for 30 years, he has presented a paper at every annual meeting, except for the one held in 1991 - the year he was activated for duty in the first Persian Gulf War, known as Operation Desert Storm. Payne has won the SSE Distinguished Paper Award twice, in 1995 and 2000, and has more than 55 published articles in peered-review journals. “He has written for many publications and belongs to so many professional organizations that he was worthy of such recognition; he is No. 1 in publications presentations,” Daghestani said. Aside from his professional development, Payne volunteers for the American Cancer Society (ACS) serving as a former member of its board of directors. For the past decade, he has also rallied his students to be a part of the fundraising efforts for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer ACS run in Miami. He and his students register runners, hand out water and assist in the fundraiser every year. “I would much rather fly beneath the radar,” said Payne, who modestly accepted the recognition from his colleagues and noted he was honored to be selected for such a prestigious award.
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always willing to go the extra mile for his students and fellow faculty members. He is a world renowned scholar and, without a doubt, the most prolific researcher in the Andreas School of Business.” A Barry professor since 1998, Payne has played a major role in several initiatives at the Andreas School of Business, including its initial accreditation by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB). Payne also co-founded and is the advisor for Barry’s business honor society - Financial Management Association International (FMA). In 1970, Payne began his career at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. That
same year, tragedy struck the university; 75 people, including the Marshall football team, coaches, fans and prominent members of the community, all died in a plane crash. The team had played and lost a game to East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, that afternoon. “Like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the tragedy of 9/11, everyone remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing,” said Payne, who recalls it was a while before anyone said a word after hearing the news on an old, black and white TV with a rabbit ear antenna. “We quietly hung our heads, got in our cars and drove home. This year is the 40th anniversary of the tragedy,
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A Matter of Science
Summer program gives economically disadvantaged high school students a taste of real world science in a college setting While most high school students are busy spending their summer at community pools, working part-time jobs or hitting the malls, a group of 15 young people spent part of their summer at Barry diving into the world of science and research. In fact, every summer for the past 16 years, a new group of 15-20 high school students has participated in the University’s Summer Science Research Program. Created as a community-based outreach effort, the program aims to get economically disadvantaged high school students excited about science and to give them a feel for what it’s like to be on a college campus. “We wanted to do more community outreach. The program gets students involved in handson, real science, and exposes them to many different areas of science,” said Dr. Flona Redway, who leads the program along with her colleague Dr. Teresa Petrino-Lin, both of whom teach biology in the College of Arts and Sciences. The Summer Science Research Program has nearly doubled in size since its inception, with the number of participating high schools growing from six to 11. Recruitment for the program, which takes place for one week in June, begins in March, and high school students from MiamiDade and Broward counties are required to submit applications to be considered for the program. Once accepted, the students spend the entire day engrossed in
debates, discussion and research regarding all things scientific. At the end of the week, the students take part in an awards luncheon where they are recognized and make presentations based on their research topics. Parents are encouraged to attend the luncheon so that they can see what the program has taught their children. “We try to coordinate the program topics with what is going on in their everyday lives, so that they can relate,” Petrino-Lin said. “Most of them don’t know about research or what it’s like to be a scientist. This program educates them on this.” This year’s topic centered on genetically modified food, which gave the students the opportunity to discuss and debate how science has affected what and how they eat. As part of their research, they isolated DNA from the foods made from corn, soy bean or wheat. They then amplified parts of this DNA by performing a method called polymerase chain reaction (PCR); finally, they analyzed the results looking for the presence or absence of the specific DNA sequences characteristic of those artificially
By Jeremy Jones jsjones@mail.barry.edu
Dr. Teresa Petrino-Lin, associate professor of biology and MARC/RISE program director, works with local high schools students as part of the Summer Science Research program. introduced genes. They found that some products were indeed made by utilizing genetically modified crops, which led to discussions on the pros and cons of consuming genetically modified foods. “It was such a valuable experience, and not something you would get in a normal classroom environment, and that’s because you are surrounded by kids who are just as interested in science as you are,” said Edwin Rubledo, a student from Everglades High School in Miramar, Florida, who hopes to someday work in the
“We wanted to do more community outreach. The program gets students involved in hands-on, real science, and exposes them to many different areas of science.”
chemistry or biology field. The success of the program is partially due to the support it has garnered from the supermarket chain Publix. Their ongoing financial support has helped to fund the salaries for Redway and Petrino-Lin, as well as provide the students with program supplies, transportation and meals at the Landon Student Union cafeteria. This support has also afforded the students the opportunity to work with new technology as it becomes available, something they may not be exposed to in a typical high school classroom. “It’s been rewarding, both educationally and socially,” said Lourgem Famador, a student at American Senior High School in Miami. “I’ve learned so much more than I ever thought I would, and that’s because of the handson approach of the program.”
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sports beat
Karp’s Debut Best in Women’s Soccer History Freshman forward Emma Karp’s first game as a Buccaneer on September 3 was the best in the program’s storied history. Just 10 minutes into it, she netted her first career goal, but that was just the beginning. After going to the bench for the end of the first half, Karp returned to find her team down 3-1 to No. 19 North Alabama. Karp connected twice more in the second half, assisted Lainie Ferring’s goal in the 88th minute to tie, and then hit the game-winner in overtime to finish with four goals (tying the school mark, accomplished 13 other times) and an assist. Her nine points (two per goal, one per assist) is second in school history. Karp, however, wasn’t finished for the weekend. She added two goals against No. 2 West Florida, becoming the first player since 2003 to score twice against the Argonauts. Through her first eight games, she led the Bucs with 14 goals and five assists. She had also scored in eight straight games, one shy of Emelie Karlsson’s school record of nine straight (September 6 to October 8, 2003).
Stapff Wins SSC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year Barry sophomore golfer Daniel Stapff has been named 2009-10 Sunshine State Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. A native of Cuitiba, Brazil, Stapff carries a 3.913 GPA while majoring in finance. In the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championship held in May in Noblesville, Indiana, he was presented with the NCAA Elite 88 award. In its inaugural year, the award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 88 championships.
Stapff was also recognized as Barry’s recipient of the Professor Emerita Neill Miller Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. On the golf course, Stapff posted a 73.60 stroke average. He was a second team All-Sunshine State Conference selection and a first team All-South Region honoree. He won medalist honors with a 4-under-par 209 at the Buccaneer Invitational May 5-6. In addition to excelling on the links and in the classroom, Stapff also made an impact in the community. He volunteered for the Special Olympics and the Ryder-Benjamin Golf Tournament. He also assisted with setup for the Miami Shores Presbyterian Church Living Nativity and was a participant in Barry Pride Day. Stapff is the third Barry student-athlete to be named SSC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Tennis players Patrick Rittenauer (2006-07) and Thomas Hipp (200405) also received the honor. 1 6
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Nick Shaw Leads Arizona Brewers to League Title Former Buccaneer baseball player Nick Shaw went 4-4 with two RBI, a double, walk, and four runs to lead the Arizona Brewers to the championship of the Arizona League with a 10-8 win over the Arizona Reds on August 31 at Maryvale Baseball Park in a one-game final. The Brewers advanced to the championship game after defeating the Arizona Rangers 6-5. Shaw led the Arizona League in on-base percentage (.471) and walks (37) and finished fourth in batting average (.339). He scored 34 runs and drove in 19, hitting leadoff for the Brewers. He also had 13 doubles, five triples and stole 14 bases (in 15 attempts) in 48 games. He was drafted by the Brewers in the 25th round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft after his playing career at Barry.
Thompson Prepares for Career in Sports Women’s basketball senior Christina Thompson represented Barry at the 2010 NCAA Career in Sports Forum held May 11-14 in Indianapolis. “The Forum was not only informative, but empowering,” Thompson said. “It was a privilege to represent Barry among the future leaders of college sports.” The Forum was a four-day event through which selected student-athletes explored and were educated on careers in sports, with a primary focus on collegiate athletics. This Forum was provided to participants at no cost, with the NCAA covering airfare, lodging and meals. Through the use of dual tracks, participants examined the key functions of a coach or administrator within sports. Foundational skills such as communication, networking, recruiting, managing culture, transitioning and budgeting were covered.
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distinguished alumni awards
Very Distinguished The Distinguished Alumni Awards were created in 2007 to honor the vast network of dedicated and inspiring alumni that hail from Barry University. It is the highest honor bestowed upon a graduate by the Alumni Association, and in three short years it has become the Association’s signature event and one of the most highly anticipated on campus. The six individuals honored this year are recognized not only for their professional achievements but also for their contributions to society and support of the University. So please meet our 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients. Among them are sailors, pilots, cancer survivors, human rights advocates, football fans, dedicated volunteers, race car enthusiasts, marathon runners, equestrians, foodies, adventure travelers, bloggers and triathletes.
By Paige Stein pstein@mail.barry.edu
“Success in business and life in general starts with the ability each day to be organized, in addition to knowing your priorities at any given point in time.�
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distinguished alumni awards
Distinguished Alumnus in business
Gary John Spulak MBA ’80 As president of Embraer Aircraft Holding, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Brazil’s Embraer, one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world, Gary Spulak is a “firm believer in the 80/20 rule – spending 80 percent of one’s efforts on the 20 percent that makes a difference.” Something which is “easy enough to say, but real success depends on what one decides is in the 20 percent,” he explains.
Fortunately, the 80/20 rule seems to have worked well for Spulak, who began his career with Embraer in 1983 as vice president of product support and information technology, where he developed and directed the infrastructure to support the company’s successful Bandeirante and Brasilia commercial aircraft in North America. In 1991 he became executive vice president, assuming additional responsibilities for customer technical assistance, training and administrative operations. In 1995, Spulak assumed responsibility for supporting the industrial and financial operations of Embraer, developing financing alternatives and fundraising. He was also responsible for customer sales finance and directed the creation of structures to support regional jet sales to airlines in North America and Europe. One of the rewards of working in the aerospace industry, according to Spulak, who serves on the Aerospace Industry Association’s Board of Governors, is that it tends to move at a quick pace and one day is rarely the same as the next. “Every day at Embraer brings new challenges because the
aerospace market is very unique,” he says. “The needs of our customers are constantly changing because of a variety of factors, many outside of their control.” Another benefit of working with Embraer, according to Spulak, has been the opportunity to get to know the people of Brazil. “It’s a wonderful, exciting and diverse country filled with people who are genuine, passionate, work hard, love life and family, and know how to celebrate,” he says. “It is far from just being a great place to enjoy soccer and the beach.” Born in New York City to first-generation Americans, a strong work ethic is something that Spulak came to appreciate as a child hearing stories of his grandparents’ journeys to America. “My grandparents all were European immigrants (Ukrainian and Italian) who came to New York at a very early age alone, embracing our country as their own and learning the language and culture,” Spulak says. “They were very brave, and I am very proud of them and their accomplishments.” After receiving a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Miami and an MBA from Barry, Spulak began his professional career with Federated Department Stores developing cross division IT solutions. He later joined the accounting firm Price Waterhouse as a management consultant, specializing in manufacturing, industrial engineering, retailing, distribution and real estate.
When not meeting the challenges of the aerospace industry or spending time with his family, Spulak devotes time “to mentoring young people as they learn about life and work”. He also enjoys coaching kids in baseball, basketball and football.
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Distinguished Alumna in Podiatry
Marybeth Crane MS ’91, DPM ’94 When she was going through those difficult teen years, Dr. Marybeth Crane, a graduate of Barry University’s School of Podiatric Medicine, received some sage advice from her mother: “If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger.” A different version of that adage came from her cross country coach: “Pain really is temporary and
quitting is forever.” Although she may not have appreciated it at the time, today, as a busy doctor in private practice, a mother to three daughters, and avid marathon runner and triathlete, she certainly does. “I have personally grown so much stronger through adversity in relationships, becoming a deeper, more fulfilled person and definitely a better mother, daughter and companion,” she says. “Professionally I have learned from all my mistakes and become a better, more comprehensive caring doctor and a much more compassionate employer.” In private practice for 14 years, Crane is the founding partner of Foot and Ankle Associates of North Texas LLP in Grapevine. Since 1998, the practice has grown to include four women doctors and a complete foot health center. Between the patients and staff, every day in the office is a new adventure. “You never know what’s going to walk in the door. My patients continue to make me laugh out loud at some of the antics they
do to hurt themselves. Athletes are great for comedy,” she jokes. “Add to that the reality TV show that is my staff, and every day is a challenge. You learn to laugh at everything and everyone - especially yourself.” Crane’s sense of humor is also evident in her popular blog, featured on her website, www.myrundoc.com, which educates runners and triathletes on foot health and injury prevention. In one entry she jokingly extols the benefits of a post-marathon beer, which she claims “can precipitate post-race amnesia making you want to do another one.” Committed to empowering the next generation of doctors, she also generously contributes to the Dr. Marvin D. Steinberg Podiatric Alumni Scholarship Fund at Barry University, and the Fund for Podiatric Medical Education. Her first book, “If Your Running Feet Could Talk,” was published in April 2009. After completing almost a dozen marathons, including Boston, New York and Chicago, and three Half Ironman triathlons, Crane says her next challenge is the Inaugural Texas Ironman Triathlon in May 2011. And what words of wisdom or sage advice does she now pass on to others? “The best habit I’ve developed is to write down my goals - spiritual, personal, professional, financial, health - and review them frequently,” she says. “I tell my students to look at them daily or weekly. When they are in the forefront of your reticular activating system, you will be amazed on how easy it is to say ‘no’ to something that is in conflict with or doesn’t help you reach one of your goals.”
“The best habit I’ve developed is to write down my goals - spiritual, personal, professional, financial, health - and review them frequently.”
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Distinguished Alumnus in technology
“I now believe in second and, in my case, third chances at life, and life is great. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
As the chief information officer for the Bottling Investments Group of The Coca-Cola Company, Javier Polit spends much of his time traveling around the globe supporting more than 80,000 associates. In fact, throughout his career, Polit has conducted business in more than 40 countries on five continents. All of which makes the words of his father, an engineer who designed several medical technologies used worldwide today, seem especially prophetic. “When I was in my adolescence, my father always talked to me about the pace of life and how it would continue to accelerate. …I think we all need to have a strategy for our own lives. It is essential to have a clear purpose in life and to make time for reflection - a few hours a month at a minimum to keep grounded,” he says. Today, inspiration is in no short supply in Polit’s life. He has been recognized as one of the top 100 Hispanic IT leaders in the country and was nominated as an inspirational leader by the The CocaCola Company during his battle with cancer. The company chose him to run the Olympic torch in New York ahead of the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece. “I felt I represented a large community of survivors and represented hope for those that were still sitting in the chair (receiving chemotherapy),” says Polit, who plays guitar, races cars, and flies Cessna airplanes, when not busy spending time with his wife Gigi, daughter Isabella and family dog Kaiser. Prior to joining The Coca-Cola Company, Polit was vice president of global information technology at Office Depot, Inc., and served in the banking industry for 12 years. He has earned four master’s degrees, including a Master of Science in management information systems from Barry. His vast international experience has fostered a solid commitment to women’s leadership initiatives. “I participate in many global programs to further develop women leaders and to further build workforce entry programs in emerging markets,” Polit says. “It is estimated that 870 million women who were living or contributing at a subsistence level will enter the workforce by 2020. ...It is about leveling the playing field and making sure women have a seat at the table.”
His dedication to this work, he adds, is reinforced every time he looks across the family dinner table. “One time I came home from a business trip and shared an 11 x 17 photo of my colleagues with my 5-year-old daughter. There were 12 of us in the photo and after a few seconds of looking at it, my daughter asks, ‘Papi, why is there only one girl in the picture?’ I said, ‘Isabella, you are right. There is only one girl, and it is not right, and Papi is working hard to change that.’ ” The dash of life – velocity, purpose, legacy - words the native of Guayaquil, Ecuador, tries to live by: “I now believe in second and, in my case, third chances at life, and life is great. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Javier Polit MS ’90
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Distinguished Alumnus in law
Alfredo J. Gonzalez ’88 Alfredo J. Gonzalez may be a highly skilled attorney but his family’s success started in the kitchen. His Cuban immigrant parents, Alfredo and Merita Gonzalez, started David’s Café in Miami Beach in the 1970s. “At the time there were not many Cuban restaurants in the Miami Beach area,” Gonzalez explains. Fast forward 33 years and David’s Café is recognized as a Miami Beach landmark that has served everyone from Gloria Estefan to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “It’s part of the South Beach allure, which is why you never know who will be sitting next to you,” says Gonzalez, whose personal favorite is the marinated half-roasted chicken on a salad, or with rice, or even as sandwich. “Talk about a versatile meal,” he jokes, “so good.” While Gonzalez has many wonderful memories of growing up in the café and watching his mother make her famous “arroz con pollo” or his father cooking his special mash made with his secret ingredients, he realized he was destined for a career in law when as a student at Miami Beach Senior High School, he competed in Future Business Leaders of America and placed first in Miami-Dade County and third in the state of Florida in the business law competition. After earning a dual bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Barry, Gonzalez earned his juris doctor at St. Thomas University. As a shareholder in the law firm Greenberg Taurig in Miami, Gonzalez’s practice focuses on the areas of local government law, particularly land use, zoning, code issues, procurement and development. He represents major
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corporations and developers in securing government approvals for a variety of ventures, from large-scale residential and commercial projects such as the W South Beach Hotel to single-family projects and historic building restorations. “I feel most excited by my job when I drive though the various areas of South Florida and see the completed buildings or projects for which I obtained construction approvals. It’s very rewarding to see the transformation and evolution of South Florida, which is my home for life,” says Gonzalez, who notes that the legal skills and experiences he has gained over the years have also been a valuable asset to his family’s business.
“Seize the moment. You never know if it’s your last opportunity until it is too late.” Prior to joining Greenberg Taurig, Gonzalez worked in Miami-Dade County government for more than 10 years, including serving as chief of policy for Miami-Dade County Commissioner Bruno A. Barreiro. He also serves on numerous boards, including the executive committee of the Beacon Council, the board of governors for the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, and the board of trustees for the Historical Museum of South Florida. Yet, despite his long and successful career in law, Gonzalez says he never forgets what made that possible. “My parents, Alfredo and Merita, sold many Cuban cafés con leche to pay for my education. I wouldn’t be where I am today without their love and support.”
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Distinguished Alumna in Community LEADERSHIP
Phillis Inez Oeters MSW ’82 As the corporate vice president of government and community relations for Baptist Health South Florida, the largest not-forprofit health care organization in the region, Phillis Oeters has never been one to shrink from a challenge. She is responsible for strategic planning of government and community relations, and developing a state and federal legislative agenda to include issues of health care funding, insurance regulation and general health policy development as well as family and work-life issues. In her office, Oeters proudly displays an engraved shovel that represents the groundbreaking of Baptist’s first outpatient center 19 years ago. From one hospital and one satellite facility, Baptist Health South Florida now includes five hospitals and numerous outpatient facilities in three counties. “Throughout my career at Baptist, I have been blessed to have great teammates around me,” Oeters says. “The sum of what you can achieve as an individual always pales in comparison to what you can accomplish when you are supported by a whole team of people who are working toward that same goal.” Speaking of a team effort, also on display in Oeters’ office is a football helmet from her tenure as the president and chair of the 20092010 Orange Bowl Committee. She is only the second woman to serve as the committee’s president since its creation in 1935.
“It’s not just about the offense or the defense; they both have to be working together throughout the entire game to win.” In addition to her work on the Orange Bowl Committee, Oeters has been a long-time supporter of the American Red Cross and was chairman of the board for Greater Miami and the Keys chapter from 2002-2005. She has also chaired the Spectrum Awards for Women
for the past 10 years and has been active in numerous civic and nonprofit organizations. Oeters’ unwavering commitment to the South Florida community that she has called home since coming to Miami to attend Barry in 1981 has earned her the American Red Cross Volunteer of the Year Award, Big Brothers Big Sisters Miami’s Miracle Makers Award, South Florida Business Journal Influential Business Women Award, and the United Way’s Dorothy Shula Community Service Award among others. As with her success at Baptist, Oeters is quick to point to the role that teamwork has played in her civic and volunteer efforts. “It is has been an honor and a privilege to be a leader and volunteer in the South Florida community,” she says. “Again, I would say that when you work with a whole team of people who are interested in improving our community, it leads to real results – the same way it does in football. It’s not just about the offense or the defense; they both have to be working together throughout the entire game to win.” When not working hard on behalf of her fellow South Floridians, Oeters spends her time with her 11-year-old daughter, Raquel Peña, with whom she shares her love of adventure travel. Mother and daughter recently went on an expedition to the Galápagos Islands where they observed the islands’ unique plant and animal life. In addition to her adventure travel, Oeters is also a highly accomplished sailor who, in 1998, became the first woman to win the J/30 North America Sail Championship presented by the American Yacht Club.
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Distinguished ADRIAN DOMINICAN SISTER AWARD
Sister Attracta Kelly, OP Sister Attracta Kelly, OP, Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters since July 2010, was born in Castlerea, County Roscommon, Ireland, to a Catholic family. “I was born and raised in Ireland in a very political family and learned our Irish history from the side of the oppressed,” Kelly says. “As a result, I grew up with a ‘healthy mistrust’ of the law and a questioning of those in power.” Not long after arriving in the United States at the age of 18 to visit her cousin, a Dominican sister, Sister Attracta entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation. Her early ministries included teaching in Florida, serving as a principal in Montgomery, Alabama, and in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. She also worked as a community organizer for a low-income African-American community in Tennessee. “During my ministries in St. Bernard Parish and later in west Tennessee, I learned from the remarkable people I worked with that God is more about serving than being served, is more compassionate than we can ever imagine, and that as Mary says in the Magnificat, God is about ‘scattering the proud hearted and exalting the lowly,’ ” she says. Sister Attracta served on the General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters from 1986 to 1992, and it was during that time that she saw firsthand “the plight of thousands of poor people from Guatemala and El Salvador who were fleeing their war-torn countries seeking asylum in the United States and Canada.” The experience, she says, left her with a “desire to gain the skills needed to use the law in the best way possible for those in desperate need.” Consequently, she enrolled in the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in 1993, and during that time served as an intern with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. From 1997 to 1999, Sister Attracta worked for Jesuit Refugee Services in Ireland and returned to the United States to begin an 11-year ministry as the director and a staff attorney of the Immigrants Legal Assistance Project of the North Carolina Center for Justice. Sister Attracta says that her “immigration ministry allowed [her] to touch the lives of people who have taken the risk, oftentimes with enormous suffering, to migrate usually for the
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sake of their families - to keep them from starving, or from violence, or from harm - or to save one’s own life because they have dared to speak out against the dominant power.” Because of her dedication to immigration law and her mentoring of numerous attorneys, the Carolina Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association established a scholarship to their national convention in her name. “A verse from a WB Yeats poem ‘The Second Coming,’ which I learned as a child, echoes in my head and heart as I listen to the plight of immigrants in our country today: The blood dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere/ The ceremony of innocence is drowned/ The best lack all conviction, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity. “That line from Yeats, ‘The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity’ always helps me to keep focused on seeking truth,” Kelly says. “My strength comes in believing I’m doing a little to bring about God’s kingdom.”
“My strength comes in believing I’m doing a little to bring about God’s kingdom.”
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Left to right: George Martinez, Shanese Hogg, Marjorie Biendicho, Dr. Pawena Sirimangkala and Clint Bahadur visit Nanputua Temple, Xiamen, China on July 7. The pictures on pages 26-27 were taken by photography major George Martinez as part of his senior project, “A visual presentation on the People’s Republic of China: The new generation.”
Farand Away Summer study abroad program gives students a glimpse beyond the ‘Great Wall’
By Paige Stein pstein@mail.barry.edu
“Too big to be ignored,” is how communication professor and Honors Program director Dr. Pawena Sirimangkala described China. With a population of about 1.3 billion and a GDP of more than $5 trillion in 2009, that seems like a fair assessment and one that made China an obvious choice for the Honors Program 2010 summer study abroad program. “China is a big global partner,”
Sirimangkala said. “However [one] feels about China, you can’t deny its relevance in the world. In terms of global impact, it was really between China and the European Union, and many people in the West are less familiar with China and its emergence.” The trip got off to a rocky start, Sirimangkala admits, with the economic downturn affecting the number of students who could participate. However, the
four students who travelled to China were all determined to learn as much as they could about the country during the fourweek program, which included language classes and lectures on Chinese culture and history. Each of the four admitted that they didn’t know much about China before the trip, but what preconceived ideas they did have were quickly dispelled upon arriving in the coastal city of Xiamen.
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“In my mind I had images that you would associate with an old-style Communist country with old buildings and people in really traditional dress, but that wasn’t the case at all,” said George Martinez, a photography major. “The city is really modern and the young people are really fashion forward.” Shanese Hogg, an international studies major, also noticed the fashion right away: “I don’t like the word ‘westernized’ but let’s say the dress in the cities was very ‘globalized,’ and I saw a lot of high heels.”
Getting past the golden arches
The group first spent two weeks under the tutelage of a teaching assistant from the University of Xiamen trying to learn the basics of Mandarin – no easy task. “It was the first time I tried to learn a language not based on the Roman alphabet,” said Marjorie Biendicho, a criminology major who speaks Italian, Spanish and some French. “I actually started to practice the strokes before the trip just to see if I could do it. But it takes years and years to really learn.” Sirimangkala, who is originally from Thailand, admitted she had the advantage over her students when it came to learning the language. “Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language and so is Thai. So it was definitely, I won’t say easy, but not as difficult for me. Next year we’re going to require that the students listen to language CDs for six months before they go.” Language and cultural barriers didn’t deter Hogg, who developed an interest in China due to a Chinese friend she met in the U.S. “At first you’re really afraid
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to make a mistake. I remember the first morning after we arrived in Xiamen, and we were trying to find food. We didn’t want to eat at McDonalds, but we were kind of intimidated even to approach the local street vendors.” Luckily, the first vendor they approached knew a little English, enough to convince the group to try her dish, which was kind of like “omelet with Chinese veggies mixed all together.” “It sounds like a little thing,” Hogg explained “but just the fact that we saw her every day in front of the hotel and she always said ‘hi’ and spoke to us, made a big difference. It made me think, ‘I can do this. I can make a friend.’ ”
photographs Martinez took was a series of pictures of young skateboarders on the street in Xiamen. “It was interesting because they really acted or tried to act like American guys. They still really look to America for fashion and culture. But the odd thing is that even now (despite the recession) they still think everyone in America has money.” The question of how they’d be perceived by the Chinese took on an extra dimension for Bahadur and Hogg, who are black. “We weren’t sure how they would react, because we assumed it’s mainly Caucasians who visit China as tourists,” Hogg said. Although they did get extra attention, Bahadur is quick to
“I was really surprised that you saw Benzs and BMWs in the wealthier neighborhoods. There were poor neighborhoods and posh ones just like in any other city. I guess I was expecting things to be more equal, more ‘Communist.’ ” Hello and goodbye
After the group learned a few phrases, such as ni hao (hello, how are you?) and xie xie (thank you), communication – while still limited – became somewhat easier and most of the students admitted they were surprised at how open and friendly the Chinese people were. In fact, Martinez, who was chronicling the trip with his camera, found himself particularly drawn to the faces of people he saw on the street: “There’s something not just open but almost innocent in the faces of the people.” Among the hundreds of
point out that it was a very positive experience. “People want to take your picture or they want their kids to take a picture with you. They’re very curious because they’re exposed to AfricanAmerican culture through TV and movies but they never have a chance to meet anyone who is black.” One slight tinge of disappointment for Bahadur was how few people he met who had heard of his native Jamaica. “I’d say about 90 percent of the people I spoke with hadn’t heard of Jamaica. When you said you were from Jamaica, you just got a blank expression. Sometimes I ended up just saying I was from
the U.S. because it was easier.” Although many in China might never have heard of Jamaica, Hogg said she was still impressed by what she described as the “global perspective” she saw in China’s cities. Nowhere was that perspective more evident than at the World Expo in Shanghai held May 1- October 31. Built around the theme of “Better City, Better Life”, an exploration of urban life in the 21st century, more than 200 countries participated in the exhibition, which drew an estimated 70 million visitors. “It was a huge site,” Hogg said. “People would line up hours before it opened and there would be a three or four hour wait just to get inside the building. I think people have a real thirst for knowledge beyond China.”
‘Gated’ communities
While the grandeur and scope of the expo is representative of a nation that is now the second largest economy in the world, the students were also surprised by some aspects of China’s economic boom – primarily the inequity in income. “I was really surprised that you saw Benzs and BMWs in the wealthier neighborhoods,” Bahadur said. “There were poor neighborhoods and posh ones just like in any other city. I guess I was expecting things to be more equal, more ‘Communist.’ ” Dr. Betty Diener, a management professor in the Andreas School of Business, travelled to China on a Fulbright grant in 2001 and taught at Tsinghua University. She is not surprised by the disparity between Westerners’ perceptions, or in some case misperceptions, of China and the reality, especially
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since the change in many cases has come at an astounding pace. “China calls their system ‘socialism with a Chinese character,’ ” Diener said. “But the changeover from the traditional Communist system has been really swift... . Once the government said ‘to be rich is glorious’ the gates were open for everyone to acknowledge that they wanted to improve their quality of life. The speed with which they’ve done it is unbelievable.” China’s burgeoning prosperity, however, has brought its own set of problems. “I’d say that most of the Chinese I spoke with recognized that with growth there also lies a lot of problems. I met a well-educated man in Shanghai, who was upper middle class and had a law degree,” Hogg said. “And he explained it like this: Many people who live in cities can’t afford their own apartments. So 10 families rent an apartment, and let’s say 30 people all live together in that small apartment - with bunk beds stacked up. He said, ‘we can’t think of ourselves as a global superpower until everyone can afford their own dwelling.’ ” Diener agreed, adding that the Chinese government is also very aware of and concerned with worker unrest in the wake
of the “new China” and the resulting economic upheaval. “Wages are rising. And, at the same time, so is civil unrest. Last year, there were more than 40,000 demonstrations, strikes, etc., in China over working conditions, wages and other issues. The government worries continually about this,” she said.
The ‘social’ scene
Although the students were surprised by some of the seemingly “capitalistic” aspects of China’s socio-economic structure, there was one place where it was evident that China was still very much a Communist country: the Internet café. “You could almost forget you were in a Communist country until you did a Google search,” Biendicho said. “On some of the searches I did, those relating to Communism, or the government, I believe, the search engine would only take you so far; a lot of things were blocked.” Google’s widely publicized battles with the Chinese government over censorship may have received a lot of media attention, but other forms of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube are also blocked. “I know there are governmentdeveloped and monitored alternatives to Facebook, but
most of the young people I saw at the Internet cafés were using computers to play games or watch movies rather than using them for social networking. But maybe that’s just what I saw, and maybe that’s just at the Internet cafés,” Hogg said. It’s just a matter of time and education, Diener said, before Internet access in China catches up to the West: “China has the highest Internet usage of any country in the world. And, access to education will be a further driver of usage in the future. So usage, though huge, is still right at the beginning of the curve. There’s no way that the government can block everything, either technically, or socially.”
Smart move
Internet censorship aside, all four of the students enthusiastically answered “yes” when asked if they would like to go back to China. Bahadur, whose senior project is on how Western companies are investing and branding in China, sees opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs. “The opportunities are there; you just need proper connections. I’d like to go back but have the trip be more business focused.” Bahadur is smart, Diener said, to make the effort to become familiar with Chinese language and culture – a must for those hoping to do business with the global giant in the future. “Anyone doing business in China really needs to make a commitment to understand their culture. This includes their language, their customs and their values,” she noted. “The Chinese don’t need to change. They have 1.3 billion people, but if we want to do business in their country
- either in marketing to them or in outsourcing our production to them - we are the ones who will need to change.” For Hogg, who is researching the government’s policy on Mandarin language and how it will affect China’s continued rise to prominence on the world stage, the trip only confirmed her passion for international study. “I’m looking at graduate programs in Japan, and I’m very interested in international law, so that might be part of my plan,” she said. A chance to see more of inland China and its countryside would be a big draw for Martinez, whose senior project will focus on how young people in China see their country. Meanwhile Biendicho, whose senior project will be on corruption in China, would simply like to have a more in-depth experience in the country. “Even though China is undergoing massive changes, you could still see some of the core values and beliefs that came from past generations. You get a sense that they honor past generations, even as they’re trying to catch up to the world,” she said. Sirimangkala, in turn, hopes her next trip will include a whole new group of Barry students eager to experience the country that is just too big to ignore. “We would definitely do some things differently based on our trip this year. It’s a tough country in a lot of ways, but one that just cannot be denied based on sheer population, the government’s determination to be part of the global community, and our vested interest in its economy. I think all the students feel the decision to go to China was a good one.”
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Young, smart and fabulously employed How these six Barry grads launched their brilliant careers
By Whitney Sessa and Richard Webster Wsessa@mail.barry.edu
The job market of the past few years has been tough – a bit of an understatement – especially if you’re a young person trying to get established in the field of your choice. However, the six young alumni profiled here have managed to get their careers off to a great start even in these difficult economic times. A combination of factors, such as hyper-preparedness, productive internships, a passion for virtual and in-person networking, a willingness to adapt, relocate, work as a temp, and, yes, luck, have all played a factor in their success. To see exactly how they did it, keep reading. And for tips from Barry faculty, staff and alumni about how to be a savvy job hunter, see our “Chutes and Corporate Ladders” game board on pg. 36. 3 0
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Kristy Singletary ’10 is pictured in her office in downtown Washington, D.C.
The early bird
Kristy Singletary ’10 certainly didn’t experience the angst many graduates go through upon entering the job market. In fact, Singletary, who graduated with a degree in accounting and marketing, landed a job two months before graduation. She walked the stage at commencement on May 8 and two days later reported for her first day as an accounting technician for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C. One of the keys to her success, Singletary says, is that she targeted government jobs, something many students avoid. She also started her
post-graduation job search in March of 2009, more than a year from her expected graduation date. “I worked in the private sector during school for a company that downsized. Having that insecurity, knowing that you never know if you’re going to have a job the next day was really hard. So I figured I needed something with more stability.” Singletary previously worked for the government during a 2008 internship with the U.S. Department of Treasury, so she was familiar with the terrain.
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I would tell seniors don’t steer away from government jobs just because it may appear to be boring. Look into it, because there’s a lot of stability and growth from within.
“I would tell seniors don’t steer away from government jobs just because it may appear to be boring. Look into it, because there’s a lot of stability and growth from within. There are a lot of jobs being created.” Singletary’s boss, Teresa Martin, agrees. She says the government is one of the safest job sectors students can enter. “With the Veterans Administration there is almost no chance of getting laid off since we process veterans’ claims … . We have a backlog right now, more work than we have people to do the work,” says Martin, a support services division chief. Besides the work, Singletary says the change of pace, moving from Florida to the nation’s capital, has kept her focused. “Miami is more relaxed. It has a young atmosphere. You have the beach and a [c’est la vie] mentality. But in D.C. it’s very businessoriented. It’s a great place to go if you’re trying to get on track professionally.” And it was clear from her first day on the job that Singletary was already on track, Martin says. “She scored the highest out of anyone we interviewed, including people who had already spent years in the workforce. She’s one of those people you don’t have to overly supervise and she’s changed a few things to make the operation better since she’s been here. She really came prepared.” Sometimes, however, Singletary admits she can be over-prepared. During the height of her job search, she spent hundreds of dollars on new suits for the dozens of interviews she expected to go on. And then she landed her job with the VA through a phone interview. “At least I have something to wear to work now,” she jokes.
The campaigner
Joe Caiazzo ’08 is pictured in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Most students search for that one dream job following graduation that will keep them employed and secure for years to come. Since graduation, Joseph Caiazzo ’08 has landed four. The history and theology major chose to make a career in politics, and since leaving Barry more than a year ago he has been involved in four political campaigns. It’s a vagabond life, the opposite of a 9 to 5 cubicle gig, and not for everybody, Caiazzo says. “We work seven days a week, 10-12 hours a day. It’s a high-stress job, and every day you’re walking on egg shells, because if you make that one slip up the media will bury you.” But it’s that excitement that hooked Caiazzo. “I love getting out there and talking to voters. Unfortunately, because of the economy, I’ve seen big men who have broken down in tears. They’re on the verge of losing their house because they haven’t worked in two years. It’s hard, but to be 23 and exposed to something like that - something most people my age aren’t - is really incredible and makes me feel lucky for what I have.” Caiazzo most recently worked as a field organizer for William Keeting who ran for Massachusetts’ 10th U.S. Congressional district. And before that he worked for Democratic candidate Mike Day who lost a September 14 primary battle for the Massachusetts state senate.
He landed his first job three months after graduation when James Fiorentini hired him to run his re-election campaign for mayor of Haverhill, Massachusetts. “I sent them my résumé, sat down with the mayor, and they hired me on the spot. It’s not really a super exciting first job story.” Caiazzo jokes. Not true, says Sean Foreman, assistant professor of political science. Most political campaigns won’t hire anybody, much less a campaign manager, without the recommendation of a friend or colleague. “Either you know someone or you don’t,” Foreman says. “So for Joe to get a job like that is not the way it usually happens. But he did it through persistence, hard work and a little luck like everything else.” Caiazzo grew up in Stoneham, Massachusetts, and would like to find a steady job close to home. But at this stage in his career, he anticipates being on the move for years to come. “If I got a great offer somewhere else in the country, I would have no problem packing up my jeep and driving to wherever that next opportunity is,” says Caiazzo, who also worked as a field organizer in Chicago for Dan Seals who lost his 2008 race for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. “It gives me the opportunity to see different parts of the country and meet people from all over the place. When you’re young you have to take advantage of everything that comes your way.”
I love getting out there and talking to voters. Unfortunately, because of the economy, I’ve seen big men who have broken down in tears. BA RRY
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The ‘temp’ Nattasha Charania ’08 gave herself three months to find a job. After graduating with a master’s degree in social work, she moved to Atlanta, crashed in a friend’s apartment and circled July 31 on the calendar. If she was still unemployed after three months, she would pack her bags and head back to Florida. “I did my bachelor’s and master’s in Miami, so I never really left since my family moved there when I was six,” she says. “I think I was feeling the need to do something out of my comfort zone and I thought a move would be good, just for a change and a challenge.” Looking back, maybe “challenge” wasn’t a strong enough description of what lay ahead. Charania treated her search for work like a full-time job. She woke up at 8 a.m., took her laptop down to Starbuck’s and spent the rest of the day researching jobs, sending out résumés and cold-calling potential employers. When that produced nothing but dead ends she drove around town looking for social service agencies that may not have shown up in her research. She called them, but the response was the same – not hiring. After nearly three months that produced just two interviews that went nowhere, a return trip to Miami seemed inevitable. “I was miserable. I’m not good when I’m not working,” Charania says. “It wasn’t fun, especially after the hectic schedule of being in grad school and having internships and working and juggling all those things. It was really weird to be idle.” Charania was just days away from her July 31 deadline when a social services temp agency called and offered her a job covering for a social worker out on maternity leave at Emory University Hospital. After three months Emory offered Charania a permanent position.
Nattasha Charania ’08 pictured in the neonatal intensive care unit at Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta. “I didn’t think it would work out as a fulltime job. I just thought it would be a good stepping stone for what comes next,” she says. “But I think a lot of internships translate into jobs. I really think networking helps.” Charania works in Emory’s Special Care Nursery, a neonatal intensive care unit. She helps families access the resources they need like insurance or Medicaid, puts them in touch with chaplains, psychiatrists and attorneys, and makes funeral arrangements when necessary. “It can be depressing at times but I love the mix of my job. It can be emotionally
charged but it’s never boring.” Marianne Wershing, the shift charge nurse for the Special Care Nursery, campaigned to have Charania brought on full-time. “She’s good talking with parents about any issues, even when it might be uncomfortable, like talking to someone with a history of drug use or telling parents they’re not visiting their babies enough. She’s very comfortable and never gets rattled. We deal with loss and it takes a very strong person to meet the emotional needs of someone when they’re losing a baby. I don’t know how she caught on as quickly as she did but I’m glad she’s here.”
It can be depressing at times but I love the mix of my job. It can be emotionally charged but it’s never boring. 3 2
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The interview king When accounting major Jerry St. Louis ’09 walked into his job interview at Ryder System, Inc., he went in with one thought in mind: ‘I am not leaving this job interview without a job.’ Nearing the end of a full year of job searching, St. Louis had filled out 150 job applications, completed 17 interviews, and returned for 13 second-round interviews. This time, however, he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. So after landing the interview for a staff internal auditor position with the company that is known for being a leading provider of cutting-edge transportation and logistics solutions, St. Louis prepared himself by researching the company and his interviewers. In addition to that, he studied his accounting and auditing books until 3 a.m. for three days straight leading up to the interview. “Jerry treated his job search like it was his full-time job,” says John Moriarty, assistant director of Career Services at Barry. “He tracked down every lead, followed up on every résumé he sent out and thoroughly researched every company that he applied to.” Equipped with the names, titles, and hobbies of his interviewers, St. Louis shocked and impressed company execs, and even won the high esteem of the senior vice president of the department when he asked the vice president about his college alma mater. After confidently nailing each and every accounting question, he left the interview and promptly sent thank you notes to each person he had met. He was hired that day. Dr. Amy Diepenbrock, director of Career Services, says the offer came as no surprise. “After his initial interview with Ryder, their HR representative told Career Services that he was the most prepared interviewee he had ever seen,” she says. St. Louis admits that his seamlessly smooth interview style didn’t come naturally, but rather it evolved as a culmination of all the tricks he picked up from the previous year of interviewing. “I’d ask myself, ‘How can I improve? How can I get better from this interview to the next?’ ”
Jerry St. Louis ’09 is pictured at Ryder System, Inc. Headquarters in Miami. St. Louis says that he also gave himself an added advantage by making contacts in the corporate world through social networking events and groups, such as a Miami-based book club comprised of well-known business professionals. A fellow book club member personally recommended St. Louis for the job at Ryder after he learned that St. Louis had applied for the position. “It’s not only what you know, it’s also
who you know,” St. Louis says. “It takes a little bit of both.” Although completing 150 applications was a tedious and time-consuming process, St. Louis says the support of his alma mater is what ultimately prevented him from becoming discouraged. “Barry was a huge part of me getting this job,” he says. “From the professors to the Career Services department, the support of Barry put me at an advantage.”
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The team player When softball star Ashley Likens ’09 was named second-team All-American, she never imagined that the years she spent perfecting her skills as a second baseman would one day help her get a job in the tough-tocrack field of sport management. “I’m the type of person that has to prepare a lot,” says Likens, an event coordinator for the Florida Sports Foundation. “I make sure that I study my interview questions and answers and make sure I have everything worded out. I was well prepared,
well dressed, was confident in my answers, and had my résumé down to the ‘t’. ... I’d practice the same way with softball, doing repetitions on different things, just to feel comfortable come game time.” While most graduates go searching for jobs, Likens’ job “kind of found her.” After graduating from Barry’s sport management program in May 2009, Likens landed a summer internship with the Super Bowl Host Committee in Miami after Barry softball coach Danielle Penner recommended
Ashley Likens ’09 is pictured outside of the Caribe Royale Convention Center in Orlando.
her to a committee member. “Ashley is a leader by example,” Penner says. “She was the first person at the field each day and an honor student every semester. Ashley takes pride in working hard and performing well, regardless of the task. … In fact, I cannot think of a more suitable person to set the benchmark for all Barry University student-athletes.” Three months of interning and learning the ropes paid off when the committee brought her on board full-time as an event planner in the fall of 2009. There, she organized and produced events promoting Super Bowl XLIV held in Miami. She also took on marketing responsibilities and even had the opportunity to design a billboard on South Florida’s well-traveled Interstate-95. Likens’ work grabbed the attention of the committee’s vice president, who recommended her for a year-round position as an event coordinator with the Florida Sports Foundation. Likens beat out a multitude of candidates and packed her bags for Tallahassee, where the foundation is headquartered. As an event coordinator, the former second baseman has to know the rules and basic practices of multiple sports. She manages the daily operations of rugby, figure skating, water polo, lacrosse, badminton and power lifting for the Sunshine State Conference, which sponsors championships in 14 NCAA Division II sports for nine Florida schools, including Barry. Her days are spent much like they were as a softball player – preparing for games, traveling to games and attending games, and always in the company of athletes. She secures venues, registers athletes, manages the inventory of equipment, and coordinates any logistics to ensure that all games for her sports operate smoothly. Regardless of the task, her secret to juggling six sports follows the same approach that once made her successful on the diamond: “I’m always preparing,” she says.
I was well prepared, well dressed, was confident in my answers, and had my résumé down to the ‘t’. ... I’d practice the same way with softball, doing repetitions on different things, just to feel comfortable come game time. 3 4
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The improviser
Adriana Rullan ’09 is pictured in the New York City offices of the G2 USA. Adriana Rullan ’09 and her fiancé Hector Funes had a plan. After she graduated with a major in graphic design, Rullan would return to her home in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and look for a job in advertising. Funes, who graduated from Barry two years earlier, planned to quit his job at the financial firm ING in New York by February. He would then join Rullan in San Juan where he wanted to start his own business. But their plan had one fatal flaw, as Rullan discovered after she moved back home. “Puerto Rico’s economy was even worse than it was in the U.S.,” she says.
The advertising agency she interned at in San Juan told her that due to the recession they couldn’t offer her a full-time position. So Rullan freelanced for several companies, and when that work ran dry she worked in her father’s car parts shop. “I just stared at the clock waiting to go home,” she says. Meanwhile, Funes decided that due to the economic climate in both countries it would be foolish to give up his job. There was one additional problem. “My parents are really traditional, so they wouldn’t allow me to move to New York and live with my fiancé without a job,” Rullan says.
So she traveled to New York in January with one goal: find a job. After sending out résumés to dozens of agencies with no luck, Rullan’s uncle contacted a friend who worked at the global marketing agency G2. He arranged a tour for his niece, but when she arrived her uncle’s friend was occupied. While Rullan waited she struck up a conversation with several of the company’s artists. “I showed them my portfolio online. They said there weren’t any positions open because of the economy. We kept talking and they asked me if I was interested in an internship, and I said ‘of course’ because I needed experience.” Four months later G2 offered Rullan a full-time position working for a design team creating point of sale displays for Heineken products. Thomas Rockwell, associate professor of graphic arts at Barry, said Rullan has two things many graduates lack – hustle and patience. “In 2007, many students secured jobs before graduation. Now, we are seeing that many of the December ’09 graduates are just securing jobs as we move through the year. So there’s an impatience. Some give up after a couple of months. But Adriana has always had the drive and determination some lack.” Rullan now lives in Long Island with her fiancé working at her “dream job.” “If I didn’t find a job, I was going to have to go back to Puerto Rico. It could have happened, because a lot of people I know are still looking for work. There are a few who have been successful, but most haven’t. Some are going to grad school because they can’t find anything. It’s really a miracle I got this job.” Richard Webster is a staff writer for New Orleans CityBusiness, covering crime and health care.
I showed them my portfolio online. They said there weren’t any positions open because of the economy. We kept talking and they asked me if I was interested in an internship, and I said ‘of course’ because I needed experience. BA RRY
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Chutes
Corporate Ladders
Cracking the job market can be tough, especially as a young grad. So we’ve compiled a few job-hunting tips from Barry faculty, staff and alumni. All of them agree that being a creative job hunter who casts a wide net can be the key to landing that first job out of school. So let’s get started.
research assistant student government It’s never too early to start preparing. Joining student organizations as a freshman or doing an internship internship will best prepare a graduating senior with the experience and knowledge to land their top job. - Dr. Amy Diepenbrock, director of Career Services
It can’t be overstated: Internships are crucial. “I’m a huge fan of internships. They allow you to diversify your experiences, and if you do a good job, it’s a great way to make the right connections and work your way into the position you want.” - Nattasha Charania ’08
While it may seem “cool” to have a nontraditional résumé, it depends on the industry. You want to be remembered for what you have done and not because your résumé stands out as weird. - Diepenbrock
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Having published work will impress a potential employer. The key to getting published is knowledge of your audience and your market. - Dr. Andrea Greenbaum, English professor
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Be sure to thoroughly research a company before you interview. There are professional services that your competitors may have hired to prepare them. - Dr. Laura Hart, management professor
Interviewing is a t wo-way process. You sell yourself ... but make sure the employer matches your personal goals. - Dean Tomislav Mandakovic, Andreas School of Business
Students should broaden their job search outside of traditional settings. One student is a youth coordinator on a cruise ship and the position required a teaching degree.
Follow up is critical. Sending an “old-fashioned” thank you card could raise you to the top of the pile and get you to the next step.
- Dr. Fay Roseman, School of Education
Fine arts majors can highlight their work on social net working sites by posting their portfolios, video clips, exhibitions and performances. This enables them to get their work seen by a larger audience, including potential employers. - Silvia Lizama, Fine Arts chair Use social media websites to uncover the hidden job market. By net working with professionals in your field, you can learn about unadvertised job opportunities. - John Moriarty, assistant director, Career Center
And always say thank you regardless of how you believe the interview went, even if you are no longer interested in the position. - Diepenbrock
Congratulations. It’s OK to celebrate and dance around a little. You have just landed your first job and are on your way to a long and successful career.
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Hot
Diggity Dog
Barry’s Entrepreneurial Institute steps up to help a blind Miami resident open her own business
Even though she can’t see the hot grill’s sizzle, she can hear it. Even though she can’t see the plump, $3-frank, she can taste it. And even though she can’t see her shiny, stainless steel hotdog stand, she can feel pride and joy. Miami resident Voygene Delva, 66, lost her eyesight more than a decade ago due to complications from diabetes. But today, because of an entrepreneurship program at Barry University, she is the owner of her own business – Granny Snacks, Inc. “You can’t let anything keep you down,” said Delva, who insists the business would not have become a reality without the help of her two “angels” – Director of Barry’s Entrepreneurial Institute Dr. Philip Mann and Associate Director Rose McClung. The institute is designed to help increase the number of minority-owned businesses, create jobs and expand existing enterprises. The daughter of two Mississippi sharecroppers, Delva worked cleaning airplane cabins. After she lost her sight, she tried starting her own business but lacked financial resources. Several banks and government agencies refused to help her write a proposal or apply for a loan to start up her business, she said, and when one agency finally did consent, they requested a $1,000 deposit to begin the process. “It was a long road,” Delva said, “until we went to the gymnasium in Goulds.” The gym is one of a dozen sites across Miami-Dade County where Mann and McClung, as part of the Barry University Institute for Community and Economic
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Development (BICED), help thousands of fledgling entrepreneurs with financial advice, grant applications and business plans to start their own businesses. Every week, the duo takes to the streets and set-up shop in community centers, such as the Dade County Goulds Gymnasium, in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods. “We walked in and met Dr. Mann and Rose. After hearing that they could possibly help us with grants for people wanting to start their own business, she was very excited,” said Delva’s granddaughter, Yoshika Simmons. Today, Delva and Simmons set up inside the Revelation Marketplace in Naranja, a blue-collar neighborhood in South MiamiDade County. Within the indoor market, shop owners peddle low-cost jewelry, clothing, cell phones and flowers. Delva competes with a pizzeria and deli, but has quickly found her niche hawking dogs and an added selection of candy - Airheads, Nerds and Bubblicious. “They come right up to me asking for their choice of sweets,” says Delva, whose younger customers call her the “Candy Lady.” One of 16 grandchildren, Simmons drives her grandmother to the hot dog stand, helps her to track inventory and manage finances. Because Delva avoids the hot grill, Simmons also helps hand out the hot dogs smothered in chili, cheese, ketchup, mustard, onions and relish. “I focus myself around her because she raised me and I would go to the end of the earth for her,” Simmons said.
By Gladys Amador Gamador@mail.barry.edu She’s not the only one who gives of her time and energy to help out. Adrian Strong, a 35-year-old, self-proclaimed entrepreneur works Wednesday to Saturday – the days the hot dog stand is open – setting up, grilling the franks, stocking the cooler with drinks, running the cash register and helping Delva get around the market place. “I do it because I want to help her make her dreams come true; make it a profitable, successful business and maybe even grow it into a chain one day,” said Strong, whose father, James, is also blind. James Strong met Delva when the two attended computer and other daily living skills classes at the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The business proposal was also a labor of love by several BICED staffers. Selen Turner, a recent MBA graduate of Barry’s Andreas School of Business, did market research, calculated overhead costs and helped to write the proposal for the hot dog stand. “It was not just writing a business plan; it was empowering a person with passion to achieve a goal,” said Turner, who is now a performance development manager with South Florida Urban Ministries, a nonprofit organization. “It is fulfilling to see the impact of our work.” That spirit of philanthropy is what School of Business Dean Dr. Tomislav Mandakovic says he wants other students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and friends of Barry to know about. “We view the achievement of Mrs. Delva
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“It was not just writing a business plan; it was empowering a person with passion to achieve a goal. It is fulfilling to see the impact of our work.” not only as a reward for her individual, indomitable spirit but also as an illustration on how a caring, values-guided institution can give back to the community,” Mandakovic said. “Being close to some very real and touching issues, the institute brings back a sense of urgency to all of us in the School of Business.” Marilyn Millsap works for the Miami district office for the Florida Division of Blind Services and worked as Delva’s senior case manager for the proposal. She credits the proposal’s approval to its “eye-catching” features, such as the sharp graphics, organization and overall professional style. “It’s definitely not something that happens often,” Millsap said. “As far as I know, only two to three proposals have been approved in the last three years in Miami.” Mann and McClung started the Entrepreneurial Institute 30 years ago, and have worked in conjunction with several local South Florida colleges and universities before starting at Barry in 2009. “I think it’s a wonderful thing that Barry can provide a service to communities that enables a blind individual to start a small business,” Mann said. “We pay so much attention to large businesses that we need to take that attention to smaller start-ups that have special needs; people have great plans and do-able businesses that need a support system. That kind of system is very much in keeping with Barry’s mission to include students in community service and volunteerism.”
Vogene Delva, aka ‘Candy Lady’, serves up delicious hot dogs from her stand inside the Revelation Marketplace in South Miami-Dade County.
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By Jim W. Harper
Get a A student wipes away tears from Dr. Charlene Desir’s face after she receives thank-you flowers from LIFE program participants.
LIFE
Two professors aim to empower Haitian-American youth by introducing them to their rich cultural heritage 4 0
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Acclaimed Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat visited Barry’s campus this past summer – not to deliver a keynote address or to facilitate a symposium. She came to chat with Kadesha Floyd, 15, Garuen Georges, 15, Brithny Benjamin, 14, and nearly 100 other students attending a new academic camp. The camp’s teenagers may not have known Danticat before reading her book “Behind the Mountains,” but the adults in attendance were quite aware of her significance. “When do you sit down and read a book and actually get to meet the author and have her answer your questions – an author who was on Oprah’s book club and on the New York Times bestseller list. How often does that happen?” said Jasmine Sainvilus, a graduate student in the Adrian Dominican School of Education and one of the four classroom teachers for the program Literary Initiative for Empowerment, or LIFE. In fact, not only did the Oprah-approved author agree to participate in the LIFE program, donating her books and signing them for the students, Danticat also wrote a letter of support for its application to The Children’s Trust, which awarded the program a $100,000-grant. The seven-week summer program, which empowers Haitian-American youth by familiarizing them with their rich cultural heritage, is the brainchild of Barry’s Dr. Pamela Hall, an assistant professor of psychology, and Dr. Charlene Desir, a professor at Nova Southeastern University’s Fischler School of Education. The two researchers formed a common bond over their concern for at-risk kids – particularly older children of Haitian heritage. “Not too many people focus on high school kids or kids transitioning to college,” Hall said. “We know the need there is really, really great. We wanted to get them before they are lost.” Hall was recruited to direct LIFE by Desir, who conceived of the idea for the program based on an ethnographic study on Haitian and Haitian-American youth that she conducted at Harvard University. “This is why we got our degrees. This is our life’s mission,” said Desir, who was born in Haiti and raised in Massachusetts, home to the nation’s third-largest Haitian
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community, after New York and the leader, South Florida. In comparison to the Haitian community in Massachusetts, in Florida she sees “more of a poorer community. There’s less financial and academic-type supports.” Of the predominantly Haitian students at North Miami Senior High School, upwards of 70 percent do not graduate when expected, she said. The LIFE program, which targeted students from that high school and from the community surrounding Barry, seemed to fill a void as evidenced by the students’ eagerness to attend the typically “dreaded” summer school. Desir and Hall recall LIFE students braving severe storms to attend, students coming from shelters and foster homes, and others who had few alternatives. Several students said to them: “If I didn’t come, I don’t know what I would be doing.” Students in the program explored their cultural roots through literature, music and dance, and visual art forms. Art was the hook that kept them coming back day after day, week after week. They made masks; they painted a wall-sized mural depicting Haitian culture and history, and they explored their roots with spoken word artist Mekka. In fact, Hall and Desir were able to recruit many local artists to participate in the program, including filmmakers and musicians. In addition to art and cultural education, the program also included a healthy dose of college prep academics led by Dr. Deidra Suwanee Dees, a Native American with a PhD from Harvard, the Haitian-born Dr. Lilia Santiague, who received her doctorate from Nova, Patrick Colon, a teacher at North Miami Senior High and Sainvilus, who teaches at Miami Edison Senior High School. For her part, Sainvilus said she was thrilled to be able to engage the students in “co-constructing” their activities in a way that differs significantly from the prescribed confines of the curricula of her school-year job within Miami Dade Public Schools. She says she “felt very free” and inspired by how involved the students became in projects such as Photo Voice. Photo Voice put cameras in students’ hands and asked them to represent their lives visually, thereby facilitating self-reflection and creativity. It also opened up a dialogue with the research team of Hall and Desir. They interviewed the students about the meaning
of their photo essays, and the researchers have plans to present their findings, especially as it relates to Haitian identity, at various academic conferences. All of the LIFE students were challenged not only to express themselves artistically but also to delve deeper into their personal and communal identities. As a result, it became clear that many of the teens knew little about their history and culture. “Even though many of them are of Haitian descent, they never learned about Haitian history. Their parents never taught them or they never learned in school. This was surprising to me,” Desir said, adding that she was heartened, however, because “they wanted to learn more.” At the end of the seven weeks, on July 29, the students were ready to give back to their teachers. Dressed up in red and black, 100 teenagers sang, danced, recited poetry, and gave thanks at an end-of-summer celebration held in Andreas Hall. The event opened with Brithny Benjamin, 14, confidently leading her classmates as they recited affirmations, first in English and then in Haitian Creole, just
as they had done every morning throughout June and July. All at once they proclaimed, “I invest in me. …” The payoff was felt by the audience of family members, teachers and friends of LIFE. “I’m going to remember the energy of that last performance,” Desir said smiling. One of Hall’s favorite memories of the program involved what Desir said to the students every morning after their opening ritual: “You all are my dream, actualized.” The students “ate that up,” as they became more confident with each passing day, noted Hall, adding that she looks forward to running the camp next summer, dependent on funding, and plans to continue meeting with some of the students on at least a monthly basis during the school year. As for Sainvilus, she says she is more than ready to go back next summer: “Even as a teacher I really enjoyed it. It was far from just another summer school.” Jim Harper is a freelance writer who resides in North Miami. He also teaches English as a Second Language and coaches swimming.
The St. Gerard sisters, Eminnie, Daniela and Emina, sing ‘The Climb’ by Miley Cyrus at the LIFE program’s end-of-summer celebration held July 29 in Andreas Hall.
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got art?
Who doesn’t want a clean house?
Left to right: Sharinna Ortiz, Emilie Paap, Kathleen Sinagra, Eric Sanchez and Mary Sansone
“The Clean House” by Sarah Ruhl enjoyed a three-night run in the Pelican Theatre April 27-30. The play, which was the senior directing project for Jason Dewitt ’09, takes a look at the crumbling of an American marriage. In turns biting and hysterically funny, the play focuses on Matilde, a Brazilian cleaning lady who dreams of becoming a standup comedian while working for a couple whose marriage is falling apart. A year prior to her arrival in the U.S., Matilde’s parents died within days of each other. Her mother died while laughing at her father’s joke and her father shot himself shortly after. The play, which debuted at the Yale Repertory Theater, won the 2004 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, awarded annually to the best English-language play written by a woman, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
Or a little
more culture?
Barry’s Department of Fine Arts also presented “The Cultural Museum.” The work is based on George C. Wolfe’s award-winning play, “The Colored Museum,” which takes place partly on an airplane and examines the desire of African-American people to escape the “baggage” of slavery and discrimination. However, in “The Cultural Museum,” the concept is expanded to more closely resemble the ethnic diversity of Barry’s student body. Through vignettes, spoken word pieces and music, “The Cultural Museum” examines what it is like to grow up as a member of a minority in the United States, and especially in South Florida. Directed by Mcley Lafrance ’10, “The Cultural Museum” was performed in Barry’s Pelican Theatre April 22-25.
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Left to right: Kathleen Robiou, Camorette James and Smyrna Ferguson
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Camino de Santiago, O’Cebreiro, Spain
Open to interpretation
In the fall of 2009, mixed media artist Laura Luna embarked on a spiritual, artistic and physically demanding 500-mile, 35-day pilgrimage through northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. Located in the northwestern tip of Spain, Santiago de Compostela has long been a destination for millions of pilgrims traveling to the Catedral de Santiago, which houses the remains of Saint James. Since the 10th century, when the remains were discovered, people have been going on this pilgrimage known as Camino de Santiago. Today, it is the most popular long-distance trail in Europe, and people make the journey by foot, bicycle, horse, car or bus. The route passes through a variety of landscapes and provides extraordinary opportunities for viewing historical sites, rustic Spanish villages, churches and cathedrals.
Luna was joined on the journey by Fine Arts Chair Silvia Lizama, who followed the same route by car (that Luna took on foot) and photographically documented the Camino in one week. The result was the two-person exhibition “Camino De Santiago: Two Perspectives” featured in the Andy Gato Gallery through December 5. “I have been an artist/photographer for more than 30 years, mainly exhibiting black and white images that are hand colored with photo oils,” Lizama said. “This exhibition was both a departure and challenge from what I have done for years. I decided to try a more documentary approach to my journey and used a digital camera instead of film to bring the Camino to the Barry community.” A native of Cuba, Luna comes from a “tradition of female craftsmen.” She works with a wide variety of mediums ranging from ceramics, bronze and wood to paper and canvas, creating both two-and three-dimensional works that explore the process of “changes and transitions and its effects on individual and collective levels.” The only medium she does not use is photography, making for an interesting pairing with artist/photographer Lizama – one that Lizama says can be summed up as “one journey, two perspectives: interpretation and documentation.” The Department of Theology partly funded Luna’s expedition, while Lizama was the recipient of an Ambassador Jean Wilkowski Fellowship, which is awarded to Barry faculty pursuing international research.
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Inspired
& thoughtful objects
shapes
Nine photographers and seven graphic designers took part in the Senior Art and Photography Exhibition held in the Andy Gato Gallery April 30-September 5. Among the featured photographers was Kelsa Bartley, whose series “Precious Objects” focused on the emotive power of imagery. The “precious objects” in the series, such as a book of poems by Robert Browning, or a rocking chair, are photographed using natural light and placed inside of old wooden boxes that “symbolize the connection between what people see of each other on the outside and what is really on the inside, in their minds and hearts.”
In keeping with that aesthetic, Bartley chose to process the images as cyanotypes, a photographic technique developed in the late 1800s which produces cyan-blue images. “The use of this technique, like many other older photographic processes, is literally becoming like fuzzy old memories, kept alive by those who choose to preserve them,” said Bartley, who noted that she found inspiration when she realized that it was not the “things she photographs that really interest her, but the feelings that are generated, the emotions that are conjured up, every time she presses the shutter.” For her exhibition titled “Thoughts in Shape,” graphic designer Karina “Kiki” Cossio created a series of artist books. “These books are unique, handcrafted volumes containing poems I wrote about personal experiences and those of people close to me,” Cossio said. “Some of these past events have forced me to grow up sooner than would be expected. As a result, I find a distinct playfulness in my art. These shapes are amongst the first basics a child typically learns.” To create the books, Cossio used terra-cotta-colored Canson paper and scored and folded each sheet with a bone folder. A bone folder, traditionally made of whale bone, is a bookbinder’s tool used to crease and create folds, score and burnish paper, and work materials into tight corners. The series paid homage to artist books, which are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects known as “uniques.”
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Kathy Schroeder ’08, a participant in NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program, examines jellyfish specimens aboard the Oscar Dyson, a 208-foot vessel with a crew of 15, plus eight scientists.
All Hands on Deck This Barry alumna is going ‘way’ out of her way to make science come alive for her students BA RRY
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By Rebecca Wakefield Kathy Schroeder MS ’08 went a long way this past May to demonstrate the value of hands-on science. From the tiny tropical island of Key Biscayne, where she teaches science to sixth graders, Schroeder traveled to sub-artic waters off the Aleutian Islands of Alaska to study fisheries as part of the prestigious National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Teacher at Sea Program. And she took her students with her; uploading the entire experience to a blog students in grades 5- 8 at Key Biscayne K-8 Center were required to follow as part of their curriculum. “My best find last night was a squid the size of a Tic-Tac!” she wrote in one entry, as breathlessly excited as any sixth-grader would be to sift through a bucket of seawater with tweezers, looking for microscopic fish. Schroeder has always been a science hobbyist. As a child back in Louisville, Kentucky,
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she was frequently found poking into the aquarium or terrarium in her bedroom. Then, while teaching first-grade at Key Biscayne, the mother of one of her students gave her a book about NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program. “She worked at NOAA on Virginia Key,” recalled Schroeder with a soft Kentucky twang. “She said, ‘You should do this.’ But it seemed to me like it was out of reach.” That was in 2004. Then Schroeder decided to get a master’s degree in science from Barry, specializing in educational technology. “I wanted to expand my children’s learning through the tools that are available,” she explained. “Learning about computer technology for kids was really helpful.” Schroeder also settled into several years of teaching the sixth-grade – that magical pivot point between the wonder of childhood and the raging hormones of adolescence. Then the student with the mom from NOAA showed up again in her sixth-grade class and she took it as a sign that she was
ready to try something extraordinary. Last October, she applied, along with about 250 other hopefuls from around the country. Only 35 were selected, just two from Florida. The NOAA Teacher at Sea Program was created in 1990 to give elementary through post-secondary teachers direct experience by partnering them with scientists aboard research ships working in waters all over the world. Since then, nearly 500 teachers have spent a few weeks studying the oceans. The goal of the program is to deepen the teachers’ understanding of the marine environment, inspiring them to pass that adventure to the next generation of scientists, consumers and conservators of the world’s greatest resource. It certainly worked in Schroeder’s case. She chose an assignment as far from the tropical waters her students would be familiar with as possible. “[Most of ] my students haven’t seen snow or ice,” she said. In early May, she flew to Seattle, then to Anchorage, Alaska, then to Dutch Harbor, where she boarded the Oscar Dyson, a 208-foot research vessel with a crew of 15, plus eight scientists. Her tour of duty lasted from May 5 to May 18. The ship’s stated mission is to study the relationships between the marine environment and the survival of commercially valuable fish in the western Gulf of Alaska, as well as to study the ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Over the course of the following two weeks, students were treated to photos of the marine and wildlife their teacher encountered - moose, bald eagles, jellyfish – and pictures of her working as a member of the research crew. She described watching the boat glide slowly through thick sea ice that looked like cloud sculptures of “swans, hippos, the Loch Ness monster.” Many teachers choose to do the program during the summer months, but Schroeder’s principal liked the idea of allowing students to follow her progress as it was happening. The team of teachers Schroeder worked with logged on to her blog every day and gave extra credit, Schroeder noted: “Every student knew what I was doing. A lot of them would write me notes on the blog.”
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alumni profile
“Ms. Schroeder, Ms. Leung shared your posts with us and we loved Googling the pictures/photos of all the animals that you have seen on your trip,” one student commented on her blog. “For example, we saw a picture of a puffin, Minke whale, and phytoplanktons.” Despite the scenery, this was no pleasure cruise. The team worked 12 to 14-hour shifts, collecting, sorting and analyzing samples of sea life as well as ice and water samples. Schroeder made sure to photograph and describe the different equipment used and asked the students to speculate on aspects of her findings. She was surprised by how much responsibility the professional scientists allowed her in handling expensive equipment. They let her deploy a drifter buoy designed to track the movements of Walleye Pollock larvae and fish. She wrote the school’s name and drew a green turtle on the buoy before dropping it into the sea. During another deployment of equipment designed to measure the conductivity, temperature and depth of the water column, Schroeder attached a bag of Styrofoam cups decorated by her students. After returning from depths of several hundreds meters, the pressure of the water caused the cups to shrink. “They still look pretty big in the picture but the smallest is actually only 1.5 inches,” she explained. “How deep was the water you put the cups in?” a student named Pablo asked via the blog. “Does the size also depend on the water pressure? I hope you have fun! Come back soon!” Schroeder said her favorite part of the trip was examining the jellyfish they found, which ranged in size from that of a marble to larger than a car tire. But the most common animal she dealt with was the walleye Pollock, a white
Schroeder lowers a drifter buoy designed to track the movements of Walleye Pollock larvae and fish from the ship’s deck. fish most people encounter in the form of fish sticks or imitation crab. Since returning home to Key Biscayne, Schroeder has made several presentations on her experience, both in the school and to the
“Last night I couldn’t sleep … I guess I was looking forward to waking up in the middle of the night to deploy the drifter buoy... . We went to
the stern of the ship where it was lightly snowing and set up the drifter.”
wider community. And it made her want to do it again. So she’s applying to NOAA again, this time for the Teacher in the Air Program, which would allow her to go up in planes to study hurricanes. “It was great for me and for them,” she said. “An experience like that gets you excited and that helps get [the students] excited about science and our planet.” Rebecca Wakefield is a freelance writer based in Miami. She covers politics, culture, and characters for a variety of local and national publications.
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Alumni news
Bring Barry Along
We know our alumni visit a lot of interesting places, and we’d love to have a memento from your travels. Whether you’re heading to Pittsburgh or Paris, like James Di Loreto ’90, who celebrated his 40th birthday in the city of lights on March 30, bring along your copy of the latest Barry Magazine and snap a photo. Then e-mail it to Patti O’Brien Brenner at pobrien@mail. barry.edu.
Keep in touch Send us your business cards for our monthly business card drawing. The winner receives a Barry Alumni prize pack. Items in the prize pack vary month to month, but previous items have included our Java Buccaneer coffee and other miscellaneous Barry paraphernalia. E-mail a photo of yourself with the prize pack to pobrien@ mail.barry.edu and we will upload it to our Facebook albums. Make sure to stay up to date on Barry Alumni Association news by following us on Facebook and Twitter. Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/barryalumni Twitter: twitter.com/barryalumni
James Di Loreto ’90 brings ‘Barry’ to Notre Dame Cathedral.
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We want to hear from you on our Facebook page. Make sure to check in every Tuesday for Tuesday Trivia to test your Barry knowledge. We are also creating Facebook photo albums, so please send your photos for the following albums: Barry babies, reunions, vacations, weddings and anniversaries.
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alumni news & events
‘Barry Babes’ Reunion Cruise The Class of 1969 celebrated its 40th year reunion in Miami and the Bahamas in June 2009. Dinner at Sofitel Miami’s La Riviera Restaurant kicked off the reunion with a touch of class. Barry President Sister Linda Bevilacqua, OP, PhD, was the evening’s special guest. The next day, 35 “Barry Babes” set sail on Majesty of the Seas for a three-day cruise to Nassau. “The ship was our Barry dorm extraordinaire and provided a perfect venue for babbling, giggling and serious conversation,” Elizabeth Decker ’69 said. “This marked our sixth class reunion. Special thanks to Janie Evert, Ginger Varca and Joan Weber for organizing this most recent reunion journey.”
Left to right: Class of 1969 members Anne (Langlois) Secker, Ellen (Cerra) Healey, Michele (Leonardi) LaBute and Donna (Quinlan) Ogburn
Barry Married
Barry Babies Photo Album
Send us your favorite wedding photo to include in our “Barry Married” photo album.
Send us photos of your little ones and show off the Future Alumni of Barry.
Sharlene Linhart-Glassman ’87 and her husband Gary celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary on November 3. The Barry Buccaneers and friends who attended her wedding included (left to right): John “Jay” Ahern ’87, Jim Varsallone ’88, Geoff Leval ’88, Denise Myers Leval ’90, Maria Varsallone ’79, Jessica Jusino-Cordero ’87, Frank Cordero, Linda Myers ’84 and Linhart-Glassman’s mentor, the late Phyllis Saunders ’64. The late Rabbi Samuel Z. Jaffe, a former professor of religious studies at Barry, officiated at the ceremony. The couple lives in Sunrise with their daughter, Laura, a third-grader at David Posnack Hebrew Day School, and their two Italian Greyhounds, Bella and Milo.
Angelina Marie Suarez, daughter of Priscilla M. Suarez-Trujillo ’02, MS ’05
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class notes
A big move
’62
Jose Rodriguez ’08, his wife, Luciana, and their daughter, Mila, pose for a family picture outside of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. It is the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates and the eighth largest mosque in the world. At the end of Jose Rodriguez’s first year teaching in the Miami-Dade County public school system, officials told him that due to budgetary concerns they could not promise him a job for the next school year. Wait until August and we’ll have an answer for you, they said. For Rodriguez ’08, whose wife, Luciana, had just given birth to their first child, Mila, that wasn’t an option. He went online in search of job prospects where he came upon a listing titled “Teach in Abu Dhabi.” Rodriguez, who majored in elementary education, didn’t know anything about the United Arab Emirates or its capitol city, Abu Dhabi. He did a quick Google search and wasn’t exactly pleased with what he saw. “It was surrounded by Iran, Pakistan and Iraq. My first thought was I didn’t want to get killed,” he said. But after more research he discovered that it is a modern country, one of the richest in the world, populated by nearly 80 percent expatriates with a median age of 30. That allayed his concerns and when he heard the terms of the job, he was sold. Rodriguez would be teaching English to second-graders. For that he and his family would receive free housing and medical care, $6,000 to buy new furniture and free airline tickets home once a year. And the cost of living - a loaf of freshly baked bread costs 27 cents - would allow them to save money for the future. Even better, his salary would allow his wife to stay
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home and raise their daughter. “Everything with the economy was getting worse. There was no end in sight. A lot of families that come here, they have little job security and debt to pay. So this is the best place to come. You can send a lot of money back to the U.S.” Rodriguez and his family moved to Abu Dhabi in the fall of 2009. He is entering the final year of a two-year contract and has every intention of extending their stay another two to three years. “I met people who started on a two-year contract and this is their 15th year here. It’s not what people think it is,” he said. The biggest misconception people have about Abu Dhabi is that it is a haven for anti-American sentiment and radical Islam, but that’s not the case at all, Rodriguez noted. “At the mall there’s a sign that reads, ‘Please wear modest clothing and no inappropriate public displays of affection.’ But if you do it you’re not going to get in trouble or thrown in jail. It’s just out of respect for the culture.” For Rodriguez and his family, some of the best, most peaceful moments of the day come with the adhan, the Islamic call to prayer. “We hear the prayer calls five times a day. We open our window and listen to the five mosques around us. They each have a different singer, so we hear the echo of all five. It’s not my religion but it’s beautiful and that’s when we stop and feel really thankful for where we are and what we have.”
Tina DeGise Quinn was in a golf tournament on July 6 and enjoyed a visit from her children this past summer. n Terry Vazac Haggerty is taking computer lessons and loves using her new skills. Terry’s granddaughter also had the opportunity to meet Sister Linda during a recent campus tour. n Barbara Scheier Phillps and husband Bill took a river cruise along the Danube in May, but they didn’t get a chance to cruise because they were flooded out. They took a bus instead. They also took their grandchildren to Yellowstone. Barbara and Bill are planning a trip to Turkey in September. n Jan Roccio Seidel and husband Bruce attended a two-week family reunion of Jan’s family in Hawaii in July with 40 people attending. n Nell Kemble Favarato and husband Bob moved to Daytona Beach to be closer to their family. n Mary Gorham McLoughlin’s daughter Kerry and her husband are adopting two boys ages 6 and 10. The whole family is welcoming them. n Jane Simons went to Ireland last year and loved it so much that she wanted to stay. n Beverly Nyahay Eyerly recently took a cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Amsterdam and enjoyed it tremendously. n Hope Lewis Lawler and husband Bill met Rose Villalba Dery and her husband for lunch while Hope and Bill headed to Helen, Georgia. n Natalie McClesky Crawford was in West Palm Beach last winter with a girlfriend while a blizzard raged at home. Her husband Paul and their dog stayed in Delaware. n Diane Balconis Quinn and husband Gerry met up for lunch with Nell and Bob Favarato in Orlando last winter. They look forward to the Notre Dame football season. n Diane Balconis Quinn and Jan Roccio Seidel are co-chairing the Class of 1962’s 50th reunion at Barry’s main campus in Miami Shores in 2012. If any classmates would like to participate or update your information they can e-mail Diane Favarato at gramcritter9@embarqmail.com or call the Alumni House at 305-899-3175.
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Jeanne Blackwood has just released a book of inspirational poetry, “Frisson of Spirit” For more information about the book please visit www.tatepublishing.com/tipsheet/ book.php?key=10391
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Luise M. Read retired in 2006 after teaching physical education for 33 years. She is now living full time in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
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class notes
’77
Nadir Baksh has just published “8 Strategies for Successful StepParenting.” As a licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Baksh has a private practice in Ft. Lauderdale and Stuart, Florida, where he specializes in family, clinical and forensic psychology. He is also the co-author of “In the Best Interest of the Child: A Manual for Divorcing Parents and You Don’t Know Anything!” and “A Manual for Parenting Your Teenagers.”
’82
Edward Joyce recently had a book published titled, “The Apprentice Boy.” The book’s website is www.theapprenticeboy.com.
’92
Cynthia Alejo (Ramal) and husband, Juan Carlos Alejo, recently celebrated the birth of their child, Andrew Joseph Alejo. n Anthony Borrow has been a Catholic Charities counselor in San Antonio and a theology teacher at Jesuit College Prep in Dallas. His first assignment as a priest will be as a campus minister at Cristo Rey Jesuit College Prep in Houston. (New Orleans Province)
’94
Amy Liptak Caruse has written her first book “The Black Squirrel Ball.”The book signing was held at the Granby Town Hall in Southwick, Massachusetts. Prior to writing her book, she worked as a community relations manager for the regional banks and for one of the oldest social service agencies in Massachusetts. n
Dreams of steel
’84
Dr. George L Salis was recently promoted to senior principal tax compliance analyst & tax counsel at Vertex Tax Technologies, Inc., of Sarasota, Florida. He also continues to write professional articles and teach International Taxation & Transfer Pricing at The Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California. n Sharon McGuire, OP was awarded national certification as an advanced transcultural nurse (TCN-A) by the Transcultural Nursing Society in 2009.
’88
Leo J. Shea III, Ph.D., a clinical assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at Rusk Institute, a division of the New York City University, spoke at the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society Educational Meeting at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, London. His work with Lyme patients was recently cited in the national, award-winning book “Cure Unknown.” Dr. Shea is vice president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS). n Frank Mottek anchored CBS Radio’s KNX-AM Miracle Mile studio, was written up in the Los Angeles Business Journal recently. He discussed his coverage of the Challenger explosion and how Katie Couric trained him in TV news by taking him out to cover a peacock that had landed in some woman’s backyard. Mottek has worked in radio and television in South Florida for many years before joining CBS in Los Angeles in 1992. He also created and taught the Newsradio course at University of Southern California for ten years.
When the Florida Marlins new ballpark opens in time for the 2012 Major League Baseball season, Manuel Dovales ’06 will be in the stands cheering along with 37,000 other fans. But his experience won’t exactly be that of the average fan. “I’ll be looking at it a lot differently because I put in a lot of time there, a lot of hours to put that thing up. I feel like I know that stadium inside out.” Dovales, who earned his MBA at the Andreas School of Business, is the scheduling and logistics manager for Baker Concrete which was awarded the contract to construct the retractable roof at the new stadium. He was in charge of the hiring of 350 people, who accumulated nearly 500,000 man-hours over the course of a year, the time it took to piece together the
8,300 tons of steel that make up the massive structure. Baker completed the project in September so Dovales will have to wait another two years to see his work “in action” and revel in the thunderous reaction of tens of thousands of Marlins fans. But to be a part of a project that means so much to the City of Miami is a reward in itself, said Dovales, who grew up close to the former home of the Orange Bowl and future home to the Marlins ballpark. “There was a time people were concerned the Marlins would be sold to a team in San Antonio, but it didn’t go through, and this project gave the city enough leverage to keep them,” Dovales said. “It’s a big deal for the city because the construction employed a lot of people from underserved areas. I am really proud to have been part of it.”
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class notes
Lenore Polo Rodicio was featured in the week of June 3 issue of Miami Today as one of The Best of Miami Educational Upgrades 2010 or “her dedication to the college mission of providing access to minority students and providing them the tools to succeed in the classroom and beyond.”
’96
Laurie Ann Wallace, of Charlotte, North Carolina, daughter of Sandra Wallace and the late Joseph Wallace, is engaged to Michael Joseph Samuel Pastrick. n Elizabeth Ricci of Rambana & Ricci, PLLC Immigration Attorneys appeared on the radio show “The Gadsden Journal” on July 17. She discussed the need for immigration reform. n Mabel Lopez is started a new practice, Mind and Brain Care, LLC, this fall. It is a comprehensive center for brain-related disorders, psychological issues, cognitive rehabilitation, and prevention/educational service. Dr. Lopez is chief of psychiatry and psychology at Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers, Florida. She also has a show “Viva su salud,” which continues to air on Telemundo. Dr. Lopez continues to serve as Calusa chapter president for the Florida Psychological Association and is the president-elect for next year.
Fostering goodwill
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Cecilia Novella is still living in North Carolina and has been working at Emergys, a small consulting company. She also attended Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and obtained a degree in executive management. She now has a daughter, Chiara, who is 17 months old. n Lisan Parker has transitioned into the nonprofit sector with a focus on global health. She is a scientific liaison, Secretariat for the Working Group on New TB Drugs’ Stop TB Partnership at the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development. n Debra Malina, a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), was voted the 2010-2011 president-elect of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetist (AANA) headquarters in Park Ridge, Illinois. She is president/owner of Malina Anesthesia Services in Memphis, Tennessee, and a guest lecturer of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Nursing in Memphis.
’98
Sona Ramdath completed his residency in podiatric medicine and surgery in June and will start a sports medicine fellowship with Dr. A Saxena at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation in San Francisco.
Eduardo Bustillo ’92 and his wife Michelle became involved in the foster care system with the hope of adopting a son. Instead, they made an effort to change the way the system operates and reunited a troubled family. For their efforts, the Bustillos were awarded the Miami Dade County Foster and Adoptive Parent Association’s 2010-2011 Outstanding Parents Award. “We opened a new way of thinking,” said Bustillo, the director of nursing administration at Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah. “We discovered many flaws in the system and wanted to fix it for the sake of the kids because they are the ones who suffer.” Typically, when children enter the system, communication between the foster and biological parents is non-existent. The Bustillos promoted a new approach called co-parenting that treats the two sides as
’99
Alice Keene has worked as a therapist in Florida and Appalachia. For the last four years Alice has been working abroad as an elementary school counselor in Kuwait. n Karls Paul-Noel, a Miami Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR) assistant chief, has been named one of the World’s Most Influential People in 2010 by Time Magazine. Chief Paul-Noel was recognized as one of the heroes of the year for his efforts in Haiti after the devastating earthquake in January. He has been an active member of MDFR’s Urban Search and Rescue team since 1987 and has responded to disasters worldwide, including earthquakes in Turkey, Haiti, the Mozambique Floods and numerous hurricanes. n William Buitrago is completing his surgical residency at the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. At Baylor, Buitrago has been an active member of the scientific community and has been involved in multiple educational activities. He graduated with an MD-PhD degree in May. After receiving his PhD and returning to medical school, he decided to pursue a career in surgery with the goal of specializing in the field of surgical oncology.
partners with the end goal being reunification of the family. The Bustillos took in two children and kept in close touch with the mother who was undergoing rehabilitative treatment. They allowed her to call her children in the evening to say goodnight so they wouldn’t become estranged. They fully supported her during treatment while enrolling her children in private schools. When the mother was released the Bustillos went to the judge on her behalf to push for reunification. “The mother says she doesn’t know how to pay us back, but we say the best way to pay us back is to stay clean, and keep the kids, and make sure they have a family,” Bustillo said. “Next time they may not be so lucky to find people like us. These kids were in seven houses before we got them. Now we see them every weekend and even became their godparents.”
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class notes
’01
Jorge Plasencia is the chairman and chief executive of Republica, an advertising branding, communications and interactive media company. Jorge also serves as chairman of Amigos for Kids, a nonprofit that he cofounded in 1991.
’03
Sister Susan Zemgulis, OP is the administrator of Dominican Retreat and Conference Center on Union Street in Niskayuna, New York. She oversees the facility, including its programming. Some of the programs offered are knotting programs as well as retreats for persons with disabilities. For more information please visit the website www. dslcny.org. n Major Cheryl Stewart was promoted to deputy chief of the Tallahassee Police Department. She oversees the operations bureau of the Tallahassee Police Department, which consists of the patrol and special operations divisions. Stewart is the highest-ranking woman in the history of the department. n Amber Siller-Knogl has moved out of Chicago into her new home in Niles, Illinois. She is just finishing up her internship and is searching for employment in the area. n Elizabeth Ridley Leckemby has been working as a championship director for Bruno Event Team and just finished the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open at Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh. She is now heading to Omaha, Nebraska, for the 2013 U.S. Senior Open.
’04
Patricia Ann Booth works at AHEPA #18 (American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association) as a geriatric social worker. She helps the elderly network with the Department of Children and Families as well as with the Social Security office in an effort to help them attain traditional Medicare and Medicaid benefits or disenroll from HMO insurance plans. She is a certified catechist and received a pontifical diploma through the Holy See in Rome. She also received the Service Coordinator of the Year Award in 2003 from the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association for her work with AHEPA #18. n Rachel Theisen is proudly representing Barry University around the world in the United States Army.
’05
Katherine Entwisle received the Rookie of the Year honor for 2007-2008 at Hubert Sibley Elementary School in Miami.
’07
Lina Arencibia enrolled in the MD program at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She is the recipient of a Case grant. n Tina Franklin is in a joint program between the University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey (UMDNJ) and Rutgers University, continuing her studies in physiology under the mentorship of Dr. Dipak Sarkar. Her research focuses on the developmental effect of alcohol on rat pups in order to better understand the effects of alcohol on infants and fetal alcohol syndrome.
’09
Dr. Brian Botts has accepted the position of principal at Edison College High School, Lee campus, Fort Myers. His career began as a science teacher at Lehigh Senior High School, where he was an assistant principal. Most recently, he was the principal of Fort Myers Middle Academy. Additionally, Dr. Botts has served as an adjunct professor in the School of Education at Edison State College in Fort Myers. n Danielle Jackman enrolled in the applied developmental science doctoral program at Colorado State University.
’10
Shane Bobart enrolled in the MD program at St. George’s University, Grenada. n Krystal Lago enrolled in the developmental psychology PhD program at Florida Atlantic University. She received a teaching assistantship and the Presidential Fellowship Award. n Kiyana Edwards enrolled in the environmental science master’s program at the State University of New York. n Joao Luna enrolled in the geochemistry doctoral program at the University of Georgia. He earned a teaching assistantship. n Maria Perez enrolled in the chemistry doctoral program at the University of Maryland, College Park. n Emir Rubi enrolled in the biological science doctoral program at City of Hope Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Duarte, California. He received a full tuition waiver.
In Memoriam: Eleanor Soulliere ’47 Francis Wong ’61 Kate Frost ’62 Charlene B. Stephens ’79 Verline Jordan ’80 Betty Kinzer Date ’81 Calvert A. Arold ’88 Sylvia DeNight ’89 Takaeshi Watanabe ’99 11102_Santaad.qxd:48685Barry.qxd Peter Christopher Dluhy ’01 Pamela Mills ’05
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The BARRY UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION invites you to celebrate a
SAVE THE DATE Saturday, December 4, 2010 Barry University, Miami Shores
For more information, Visit www.barryalumni.com
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time capsule
You’ve got mail
Back when Barry was a women’s college one of the highlights of a student’s day was the walk to the campus post office to retrieve her mail. In part, the post office, which opened July 16, 1963, was due to the intervention of U.S. Congressman Claude Pepper of Miami. Rep. Pepper was one of Florida’s most beloved statesman and when asked to help Barry get a post office, he agreed.
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COVENANT SOCIETY Helping Barry students achieve their dreams Gala Brown Munnings ’75 supports the School of Social Work Fellowship with an estate gift. By becoming a member of the Covenant Society, she has joined the growing number of Barry faculty, staff, friends and alumni who chose to remember the University in their estate plans.
“I chose the field of social work as a result of growing up during the civil rights era, when I witnessed firsthand the effects of discrimination and the powerlessness people felt. I was motivated to help others and to become an advocate for change.” - Gala Brown Munnings ’75 Director of Field Education School of Social Work
By including Barry University in your estate plan, you can make a gift to the University without affecting your present income and secure a significant tax deduction for your estate – all while supporting the school or program of your choice. To become a member of the Covenant Society, contact Victoria Champion, director of major and planned gifts, at 305-899-4063 or vchampion@mail.barry.edu.
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ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
11300 NE Second Avenue Miami Shores, FL 33161-6695 www.barry.edu
11201_IGIVEADps:I give ad
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NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID MIAMI, FL PERMIT NO. 794
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INVEST IN THE FUTURE by helping to educate Barry’s students today! “As a perfusionist, I help save lives. Barry gave me this opportunity through an excellent hands-on program, faculty support, and scholarships.” -Allison Perantoni ’10, BS in Cardiovascular Perfusion Your gift to the Annual Fund helps develop students who are job ready when they graduate and have the skill set needed to excel in the 21st century workplace.
Give online today at www.barry.edu/giving For more information, please contact Emily Boyce, Annual Fund director, at 305-899-3076 or eboyce@mail.barry.edu. 5 6
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